Harry Potter, Master of Death
by Pseudonominal
Summary: A six year old Harry Potter gets help from an unexpected source. How will this affect his life? Super!Harry H/Hr/L Lunar Harmony in later years. By popular demand, I will continue the story here. Warning: Betaed from the 6th chapter onwards! Lots of mistakes in the first five! I'm sick and tired of people commenting on mistakes I made over a year ago.
1. Books, Hermione and John Potter?

A/N: I would like to thank Philosophize for reviewing. I have now reformatted the first chapter the second will follow soon. I want people to enjoy my writing, not give them headaches with it. :-)

I hope it is somewhat easier to read now.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

A six year old Harry Potter rolled into a tiny ball inside his cupboard. He tried and failed to take all of his weight from his injured right arm.

Today had been the day his first year at school had ended, both he and Dudley had gotten a letter for the Petunia and Vernon Dursley and whatever had been written in his, it had made them quite mad at him and uncle Vernon had beaten him worse than ever before.

Unbeknownst to Harry, his arm had been broken several times.

Shifting around until the pain in his arm had become a dull throb, Harry drifted off to sleep and his magic tried to heal him, though as he had been starved from early on, the magic could not kick in. He couldn't know, but as he never got enough to eat, his magic filled in for the lack of food. This kept him reasonably healthy, but constantly depleted his core.

A byproduct of the strain was the growth of his core to abnormal proportions, all in hope to keep a little more magic on hand, but as soon as strange things happened around him, the beatings got worse. This time it seemed as if there was just not enough of his magic left to patch him back up. The healing tried to start, creating low level pulses of magic. It was not enough to get the attention of an average wizard or witch...but enough for something else.

A shapeless specter drifted into existence just mere feet in front of number four, privet drive, curios about the short magical strobes that drifted into the different planes of the universe.

Having been a human long ago, so long it had nearly forgotten that time, the specter floated through the wooden door and through the staircase to find a little boy in a confined space, locked in as it seemed.

'Humans...' It thought to itself.

Reaching out with its mind, it found the core of the little being completely drained of all magic. Taking a bit of the ambient power around the house, the being reformed it and fed it into the boys core. The healing magic took hold, bones straitened and bruises vanished.

Still intrigued about the boy, it felt around his core and found it cracked in places where the magic bled into his body. It...no he... the specter reminded himself of being male...he remembered what made him what he was today, an accident that should have annihilated the entire village he had lived in, as his core broke it should have had exploded. Instead from the need to protect everybody around him, he had channeled all of the magic into his soul, binding it to magic itself. He had nearly died then but as he came around he found himself to be quite immortal, while his body could still be destroyed, his soul remained. He found he could tap into his magic, as well as the energy around him.

The disembodied soul made a decision then, he was alone, the only one of his kind and, if he was honest about it, alone for now far to long. He reached out once more and found the cracks in the young boys cored, hesitating only for one moment he pressed down to break it completely and simultaneously he funneled every ounce of magic into the boys soul.

After the change was complete the body of the child would experience quite a few changes. Chuckling in his own mind the specter moved away, he would keep watch on the boy and if necessary, he would once more become corporeal.

As Harry awoke the next morning his body was aching all over, but at least the pain in his arm had subsided. He fumbled around in the dark for his glasses, only to see them quite clearly once his eyes had adjusted. He shrugged and left them on the ground, sat up and waited for his aunt to unlock the door.

He heard the lock and his aunts shrill cry for him to get off his lazy behind and prepare breakfast. Harry got up and opened the door and immediately noticed that the world seemed to have gained quite a few additional colors in the last night, colors he had no names for.

If he had to describe it though, he would have said the sky had a decided touch of crimson. Only it wasn't really there and the sky looked still quite normal. He entered the kitchen and noticed that his relatives also had gained a bit of color over night.

His uncle, an ugly shade of orange to begin with, turned deep red as he entered. His aunt had a sickly pale green about her that deepened in color as she looked at him. His cousin Dudley however was the craziest shade of purple he had ever seen. It didn't change with him and stayed just the way it was. That all was new only that the kitchen didn't look any different than most other days. It was almost as if he had earned a new sense last night.

His aunt snapped at him. "Are you going to stand there all day just as lazy as your good for nothing parents or are you actually going to prepare breakfast."

With this she shoved him to the stove and handed him a frying pan. After making breakfast and feeding on what his relatives left him, which wasn't much, Harry went outside to a playground to while away the day. As he crossed over the border of number four, he noticed he left the crimson behind he had noticed earlier. Turning around he saw a dome over the Dursley house, it was crimson in color and tiny symbols seemed to flit across. Shaking his head Harry continued to the playground, thinking that maybe uncle Vernon had hit him so hard, he had a concussion.

The symbols he had seen on the crimson... _WARD..._ Harry stopped as the word entered his mind unbidden. He shook his head as he sat down on a swing. Anyway the ward had all these... _RUNES_... on it. Harry stuck his finger in his ear and twisted. It was almost as if his mind whispered in his ear. He then tried to think of an explanation to it and …. _MAGIC_...

"I don't understand." He didn't realize he talked out loud. "What is happening to me?"

Harry didn't expect an answer, so he was all the more shocked to get one.

" **You...are...wizard.** "

He jumped at least a foot in the air. "Who are you? Where are you?"

" **Don't...know...everywhere...nowhere...hard to explain.** "

"Explain to me what wizard means?"

" **You can do...magic.** " The voice became clearer, easier to understand.

"How did this happen?"

" **Last night you were...hurt...magic tried to...heal you...but you had none left. You're magical...core was...cracked, it would...explode. I bound magic to your soul,...hard to explain for now.** "

Harry thought of what would have happened if the voice was right. Would he have exploded through one of Vernons beatings?

" **Yes.** "

"What now thought?"

" **These people beat you often?** "

"Hm?...Oh yeah, that's because I'm a freak. I don't know why exactly I'm one, but my uncle made sure to tell me that he hit me because it would make me less freakish."

" **It's not true...and you know that. Your uncle hits you, because he likes to hit you.** "

"Yes I know, but I have no other family left but them. There is nowhere to go."

" **Maybe there is...wait.** "

The specter had to focus hard, after over 100 years of disembodiment, he had trouble to concentrate on what it felt like to have body.

Harry watched in amazement as a man stepped from seemingly thin air. The body warped a few times before it settled.

"Have you been talking to me?"

"Yes" the man looked about. "now would you like to leave your relatives and live with me? I would train you, my magic is like yours."

Harry thought about this for a moment, what could possibly happen, he was already in a waking nightmare. This stranger couldn't be much worse.

"Yes" Harry looked down. "But first you have to put on some clothes."

The man looked down and seemed to only now realize he was naked. A wave of his hand later and he was dressed in a three piece suit that was outdated, but still fashionable.

"Then let us go. I will now be Jonathan Potter, your uncle, brother to your biological father."

"But I thought my father had no siblings. Won't they know?"

"No they will remember me...everybody will." Harry frowned at this cryptic statement.

As they reached number four the newly christened Jonathan Potter took Harry by the hand and knocked on the door. It was torn open so hard it almost flew from its hinges. A large man stood in the frame. He looked at Harry and then back at the man who held him by the hand. Vernon Dursley beamed a fake smile at the man.

"I hope my nephew didn't break anything."

"No, not at all."

"Oh good then."

Harry felt his upper arm bruise as his uncle grabbed him and pulled him inside. Vernon tried to slam the door shut, only to have the door explode. The pieces froze in the air long enough to admit Jonathan and then the door reassembled itself. Vernon sputtered and looked at him white as a ghost.

"You are one of t-t-them."

Jonathan pulled himself up to his full height. "If you mean that I'm a wizard then yes."

Vernon now grew purple, Harry felt his arm break under the grip of the enraged man. He gave a small pained gasp. Jonathans eyes narrowed.

"Please unhand my brothers son this instant."

"Your...your brother!" Vernon shoved Harry to him. "Here take him then. If I had known there was somebody else who could take him, I would have been rid of him years ago and now out of my house!"

Jonathan had meanwhile looked Harrys arm over, discovered the clean break and with a wave of his hand, healed it back up. Then he turned his hand to Vernon and the obese man rose up and stuck to the wall.

"Harry please wait outside. I just want to have a short chat with your other uncle." Harry looked for a moment like he wanted to object, then he turned around and walked out the door.

Jonathan turned back to Vernon after Harry had shut the door. "Well Vernon, I wanted to go easy on you, but you had to go ahead and break his arm."

Vernon wanted to shout but found himself unable to. Jonathans eyes turned all green and started to glow. He touched Vernons temple and started to whisper in his ear. Vernons eyes grew wide and his hair turned completely white. His eyes rolled up until only the whites were visible. After almost a minute of whispering Jonathan let him drop to the floor and left.

Three months later Vernon would disappear without notice, his company eventually declared him missing. Police entered the house of four privet drive to find Petunia Dursley locked in the cupboard under the stairs, where she had starved to death. Dudley Dursley had been beaten so badly he was barely alive, he was saved but required counseling for the rest of his live. He was found in his padded cell at the age of 35 where he had committed suicide after a lenient nurse had left a razor blade after shaving him. Vernon Dursley was found in the attic, where he had hung himself.

Harry and Jonathan left via teleportation, only to reappear in the atrium of the ministry of magic. The went to the reception desk and Jonathan spoke to the clerk. "Hello, I want to claim custody of my nephew, which department is responsible for that?" The clerk looked at the disinterested. "Second Floor, Department of magical family matters and inheritance." Thank you."

They left for the elevators.

"So you're James Potters brother?"

"Yes."

"Well why haven't you claimed custody of Harry Potter until now."

"After my brothers death there was a delay in notifying me and then I had to still find him, as he was quite well hidden."

"Then why should he live with you?"

"You ask me, why you should have Harry Potter live with a pureblood instead of a bunch of abusive muggles?"

The clerk blanched and stuttered. "Of course not...Lord Potter..."

"I'm not the Lord Potter, and I will not take up the title, it will wait until Harry is 11 so he can take it up. I will teach him everything he needs to know for this."

The clerk calmed down. "Of course Mr. Potter we will take care of this oversight immediately."

Half an hour later they left the ministry, and Jonathan Potter was the official guardian of Harry Potter.

Harry was confused. "What do I call you now?"

"Just call me uncle John, after all that is what I am right now."

Harry smiled. "OK, uncle John." He grabbed Johns hand and they teleported away.

5 Years later...

Harry and John faded into existence on the front steps of Gringotts. Harry could by now teleport to everywhere he had been before and had a big amount of wandless magic under his belt.

As they entered Harry complained to what must have been the 1000th time on that morning alone. "Why do I have to go? You can teach me anything I need to kill that Dark Lord."

They had been to the department of mysteries a year prior and had watched the prophecy with the help of an unspeakable.

"You can access about a millennium of knowledge old, new, forgotten and regained."

John was unfazed as always. "You will learn wandbased magic. You can use just about every trick in your tool box."

Harry opened his mouth to speak again, but John was faster. "And you will find friends there. I know you like to live with me, but it's not exactly healthy to only ever be around the same person. You will learn in the castle and live there to meet new people."

"But dad..." Harry had taken to calling John dad after he had lived with him for two years.

"Hush now, I have taught you better, you know better than to discuss things with me that are not up to discussion."

Harry sighed, yes he did know that the decision for him to attend Hogwarts was final. That didn't mean he had to like it.

They entered Gringotts and John said "Tell you something, you're good now and won't complain anymore. Then I will lift your spending limit in the book store for today."

Harry grinned "OK. You're the best dad ever." Harry certainly loved his books.

"Well Harry you know I am only one call away, no matter the distance." Harry just smiled and nodded.

They went to a goblin teller. "Mr. Harry James Potter. He is here to take up the mantle of House Potter."

The teller made a very rude sounding noise in the back of his throat and a second goblin came to them. The teller indicated to him.

"This is Griphook. He will lead you to the Potter Account Manager. Please follow him."

They thanked the teller and followed Griphook into the back of the bank. They came to a security post. Griphook turned to them.

"Sirs you have to surrender your wands."

"I'm well aware of your security protocols and have left mine at home. We will buy Harrys wand once our business here comes to a close."

John had thought of that excuse to explain his lack of a wand. The goblins didn't necessarily needed to know that he had no need of one. They were led further into the bank, to a pompous looking office.

"Please wait here." And Griphook was gone.

They waited for about two minutes, then a gruff sounding voice called them in. The goblin behind the desk stood and introduced himself.

"I am Gutslitter, the Potter Account Manager. So you must be young Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded and the Goblins eyes flitted up to his forehead.

"I see you got rid of your scar. Sad, we goblins value a scar from a fight we won."

Here John interjected. "We didn't remove it for any reason other than that there was a piece of Voldemorts soul trapped in that scar. If not for that fact he would wear it proudly."

The goblin had gone pale. "You mean to tell me he tried to make a horcrux that night?"

"Yes probably, but for his soul to easily bind to another host, he not only tried to make one...but must have others from before that. We destroyed the piece in Harrys scar, which removed the scar as well."

Gutslitter looked dumbfounded. "More than one...I have to inform king Ragnok of this..."

He made to stand but Johns voice halted him.

"Whilst Harry will be at Hogwarts I will be searching for the remaining ones, tell him that."

Gutslitter left, only to return a few minutes later with a regal looking goblin in a finely tailored suit. John stood and motioning for Harry to copy him, bowed down low.

"King Ragnok, I must say it is an honor that you will meet with us."

Ragnok laughed. "Rise. You're not of my subjects, but it is refreshing to meet Humans with a feel of honor to them."

He then gave them a slight bow in return, making Gutslitter gasp. After they were all seated John filled Ragnok in about the Horcruxes and that he would hunt them down while Harry was at school. Ragnok looked gravely at them.

"If you need any help to destroy one of them, you need but ask. Gringotts will help you in your hunt, even if we have to break our own laws...these abominations have to be destroyed."

John looked thoughtful for a moment. "King Ragnok, perhaps you could have a general audit of all vaults. I suspect you will find at least one of these things in a vault of his old supporters."

"A very good idea Mr. Potter. Very well I will leave now and you may go about your business as planed. I have a search to coordinate."

Harry and John shook hands with the king and Gutslitter bowed deep. The goblin then turned to a cupboard by his side, opened a drawer and took a small velvet lined box from it.

"The signet ring of Lord Potter, place it on your finger, the magic will accept you and then we complete the paperwork."

Harry took the ring and slipped it on his finger, it shrunk to fit and glowed briefly to signify its acceptance of its new master.

"Now the paperwork."

Gutslitter handed them an entire ledger filled with papers that needed signatures from both Harry as Lord Potter and John as his Guardian, Harry also appointed John as his proxy in the Wizengamot. While taking up his Lordship granted Harry special rights, he was still underage and didn't want to emancipate himself. After all was singed and filed Gutslitter handed them another ledger. In it they found the portfolio of the Potter estate, it's liquid assets and properties. Finally they came to a close and only requested a ride to the vault, to stock up on money.

After the exhausting paperwork they were happy as they finally stepped out of the bank.

"So Harry where to first?"

"Books!"

And off he was in the direction of Flourish and Blott's. John entered the store just in time to see Harry collide with a slight brunette that had books stacked so high in her arms she couldn't see over them and Harry in his over excitement had also not seen her. Still Harry twisted in the air and took the brunt of the fall and had the girl fall on top of him.

"UUNG!"

The air was forced from his lungs as he collided with the ground with the girl on top. The books went flying in every direction, but John held out his hand and the books froze in the air and floated to him. He set them down on the counter, bent down to help the children stand up.

"I hope you're not hurt miss."

She looked more embarrassed than hurt her cheeks were bright red and she started to ramble.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't see where I was going, but it is so fascinating all those books about magic, I hadn't known that there was so much to learn about, but anyway thank you for your help."

Harry stood slowly rubbing his bruised ribs, while chuckling. "Do you ever breathe? Anyways I'm Harry and this is my dad, well he is actually my uncle, John."

Her cheeks reddened a bit more. "Hello Harry, I'm Hermione and these are my parents..." she pointed to a man and a woman that had just joined them. "...Dr. Emma Granger and Dr. Dan Granger."

They shook hands. "You would be Mr.?" Dan asked.

"Sorry, Jonathan Potter and this is my nephew and adoptive son Harry James Potter. But please call me John."

He smirked at Harry as he gave his full name, who just huffed at him.

Dan smiled "Just as well call me Dan and my wife is Emma." Emma nodded.

John looked at them. "Your daughter is a first generation witch I guess. Will she attend Hogwarts for first year come September?"

Emma nodded wide eyed." Yes how did you know?"

He pointed at the alley behind him. "Well look at them, your the only ones with matching clothes."

Just to prove him right a wizard walked by them in a wet suite wearing hiking boots and a pink frilly tutu.

"As for the Hogwarts thing, Well Harry here will start this year as well and they seem to be about the same age."

Dan nodded. "Perhaps you could answer a few of our questions some time and the children could get to know each other. It's always easier if you attend boarding school and already know at least someone. Do you have a phone?"

John nodded and they exchanged numbers to meet up. They looked back to where the children had been, only to see them flit around the shelves and point out books the other had missed. After they had everything he saw Dan and Emma try to tell Hermione that they could not buy all the books she had picked out, without risking an emotional breakdown. He quickly exchanged a word with the clerk and returned to tell them everything had been taken care of. Dan and Emma protested of course, but he insisted quoting the horrible exchange rates for pounds to galleons.

After much protest they accepted but demanded that they would invite them to dinner soon. Harry and Hermione smiled at each other and she thanked John profusely. As they split up they went to pick up Harrys wand as Hermione and her parents had saved the book store for last and now would head home.

"It was nice of you to take the brunt of the fall, Harry." John smiled at him.

"I couldn't very well let her get hurt, now could I. Besides Hermione is really nice, she loves books about as much as I do."

Harry smiled, perhaps Hogwarts wouldn't be as bad as he had imagined. He waved his hand and shrunk his books as they arrived at the wand makers shop.

They entered and found a dusty old shop waiting on them. Both felt a presence sneaking up on them and spun to meet it. Behind them Mr. Ollivander, the wand maker, stood. For decades he had snuck up on his clients and had given them a scare, only to be surprised by the two before him.

"Hello Mr. Ollivander, I'm Jonathan Potter and my charge Harry is in need of his first wand."

"Why yes of course." Ollivander looked at Harry like he was a particularity juicy peace of meat.

"Which is your wand hand? Right?"

Harry nodded and then had a magical measure take all kinds of ridiculous measurements. Meanwhile Ollivander busied himself by pulling down box after box after box. He returned to Harry and pushed a wand in his hand.

"Give it a wave Mr. Potter."

The wand gave of a whiplike crack and suddenly Mr. Ollivanders jacket consisted of daisies. Ollivander tore the wand from his hand and pushed the next one in. It detonated a chair that stood in the corner. And of to the next. And the next. And the next. Mr. Ollivander seemed to grin like a lunatic once they had tested what had felt like a hundred wands, he seemed quite happy that Harry was a difficult customer. Finally he brought a box to the front.

"Pheonix Feather and Holly."

Harry took it and it felt slightly warm. He waved it and two sparks came out until there was a farting noise and Mr. Ollivanders counter turned into a piano and a very confused jazz pianist. After cleaning up, Ollivander frowned.

"There was a reaction, the wand tried to bond and got rejected. I've never seen anything like this. I might have to make you a custom wand, wait here."

He hurried back into his workshop and returned with a bag and a box, he laid out a few slivers of wood.

"Now Mr. Potter please touch each of these samples and tell me if any fell warm or hot to you."

Harry tried the pieces and took two. One felt warm, the other felt so hot it was uncomfortable to touch.

"This ones warm." He handed it to Ollivander.

"Very well Mr. Potter that's holly."

"And this one feels really hot."

"That's blackthorne." Ollivander gasped "The wand wood of a true warrior. I rarely use it nowadays, only in my custom wands, as almost no one seems suited for it. You already show signs of greatness, the wizard you vanquished could only wish for."

He rubbed his hands in glee and opened the box, it had multiple compartments and each was labeled with the name of an animal.

"Same here Mr. Potter."

Harry once again touched the samples and came up with three this time. Mr. Ollivander shook his head.

"You don't do normal do you Mr. Potter."

He started chuckling. Harry placed two items in his hand.

"These feel warm."

"Yes a pheonix tail feather and a ….thunderbird tail feather...how odd, it was sent to me from my american colleague a few decades back with a few others, I never could make them work for a british wizard."

Harry then handed his last item to Mr. Ollivander, who paled.

"Thestral tail hair...why I never...never ever...but I guess...it makes sense like that."

Harry got confused. "What is it?"

"A thestral is one of the most mysterious creatures to roam the world, it can only be seen by someone who has seen death. It is said that only a wizard or witch who had a particular bond with death can wield a thestral tail hair wand."

"Well it felt really hot."

"With your history I don't even know why I'm so surprised. After all you survived the deadliest curse known to mankind...something like that links you to death like no other. That hair was passed down for countless generations in my family. No matter what your wand will turn out to be, as each wand shows its form only while it is being crafted, it will no doubt serve you well and will probably only be loyal to you, meaning no other wizard will be able to use it."

Then the business man in Ollivander made his presence known.

"Of course such a wand will be incredibly difficult to manufacture, after all I have to fuse two woods and three cores together. It will probably take a week to complete as well."

Here John jumped in. "Don't worry about the Money, Mr. Ollivander, I will only have the best of the best for Harry. Take your time to craft a masterpiece and I will reward you for your troubles."

Mr. Ollivander was almost painfully nice after that and John ordered a custom wand holster for Harry as well.

"After all with a wand like that you don't want it lost or damaged." He told Harry as they left.

They went through the alley and looked for all the other things Harry would need and a few he could use at home to prepare for the course work in Hogwarts. As the only thing remaining on the list was a pet, John said he would get him an owl, so he could write him letters while at school and send the to his friends when at home. They entered the menagerie and Harry immediately felt drawn to a beautiful snowy white owl, so they bought her and Harry named her Hedwig, after a person he had read about sometime ago.

When they had bought everything Harry got treated to ice cream by John and then they teleported home. They had been living in a small house in a moderate neighborhood for the past five years, it had all the comforts of a muggle home, like electricity and television and the phone. John had added the wizarding comforts to it.

Never ending water supply, a vanishing basin for all the waste and space expansion on the rooms. They were often visited by class mates of Harry from his muggle school and, while they often wondering how there could be so much space in such a tiny house, they never once realized that the house was actually just about as large as the living room alone.

They thought it was clever room management, it always made John laugh.

They had just taken of their shoes as the phone rang. "I'll get it!" Harry chirped and John chuckled at his over eagerness.

He heard only half of the conversation.

"Hello!...Hello Hermione, yes it's Harry...how cool, I will start that book later...no we just came home...OK bye Hermione...Hello Mrs. Granger...yes it's Harry...I'll get him...DAD!" John took the phone from Harry. "Hello?"

"Hello John, it's Emma."

"Oh hello Emma. I hadn't thought we would here each other so soon, but it seems Harry and Hermione had a good start together, I'm sure they will be great friends soon."

"You have no idea, ever since we came back it was Harry this and Harry that." They shared a laugh at the antics of their kids. "Anyway we called because we wanted to invite you over for dinner tomorrow, if you're available."

"Thank you, we would love to come over, when should we be where?"

John noted the address and time, thanked Emma again and hung up.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"They invited us for Dinner tomorrow."

"I hope you said yes?"

"I did."

Harry punched the air and bounded up to his room with his books to read up interesting things he could chat with Hermione about. John chuckled once more and went about preparing dinner.

As they sat down to eat, John asked Harry about the texts he had read so far and was pleased that Harry had already completed two of the books they had bought. Apparently the effects of binding the magic to the soul, were different for each individual. There was a common ground to it, abilities that they shared and some that they would share in the future.

Others were completely individual. Where John was able to draw knowledge from a kind of universal bank and could add to it as he pleased, thus creating his new identity of Jonathan Potter, brother to James Potter, Harry could draw knowledge from books, he had an eidetic and photographic memory, he remembered everything he read and experienced.

A trait they shared though, was the ability to sense magic on a wholly other level than anyone else.

John had taught Harry about runes and the lad could now actually read the purpose of wards when they encountered them, a few years in the future and he was sure the lad would be able to unwrap them with a touch of his finger and a change to the runes.

Jonathan Potter might not have been his real name and it was not his real identity, but he was happy that he had done, what he had done on that evening five years ago. He loved Harry like his son and Harry loved him like a father. The boy had as much saved his life, as he had the lads. John was extremely proud of the achievements Harry made with his magic.

"Are you exited to meet Hermione again tomorrow?" John asked Harry after they had done the dishes.

"Yes, very much. We've only known each other for an hour or so, but I really like her. She is nice and loves books and she will be at the school. I really like her to be my friend then."

John smiled at him. "I have no doubt that you two will be the best of friends in a very short time."

Harry grinned at that and John asked him if he wanted to watch a movie or read more of his books. Harry choose the movie and choose 'Back to the Future' and John groaned.

"Really, you have seen the movie so often that the cassettes had been all worn down, this is already the second set. You have an eidetic memory, how can you watch that movie so often, without it getting boring?"

Harry just smiled innocently at him. "I don't know, I just never get tired of the story. It gives me a sense of contentment."

John shook his head and pushed the VHS in the VCR and pushed play. During the film he could see Harry mouthing all the lines with the actors. He smiled and cried where appropriate, as he had every time they had watched it. John smiled at the boy he thought of as his son, while said son had his eyes glued to the television.

After the movie Harry was so tired he practically fell asleep while standing up. John scooped him up in his arms and only got a weak protest from Harry, before he drifted off to sleep. Carrying Harry up the stair to his bedroom, John tucked the boy in and kissed him on the forehead, before turning off the lights and going back downstairs.

He thought of the day he had gotten Harry and the way his 'relatives' had treated him. Harry could never forget that, they could never hurt him again, he made sure of that, but Harry could never forget.

He had had friends in the muggle school he had visited, but they hadn't been close. Harry would play with them, do homework or assignments with them, but he never trusted them, nor where they up to his intellect.

With Hermione this seemed different though, he had instantly build a connection with her and seemed very happy that they would go and see his friend tomorrow. If he wasn't mistaken he would see a lot of the girl and her parents in the years to come.

John sighed and hoped that what he saw in the future would actually come true for his son, he couldn't think of a boy more deserving of happiness. Rubbing his face, he decided to turn in for the night, he would just wait and see what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Dinner, a Horcrux and Bullies

**A/N2:** I reformatted the second chapter as well. I would have been done sooner, but every once in a while my body reminds me of having to eat to survive :-). Just as well, hope you enjoy...

 **A/N:** This chapter wrote itself quite a bit quicker than I had originally thought and got quite a bit longer. Also a big thank you to everyone who took the time out of their day to read my first chapter. My mind is blown! Right now there are just over fifty people that want to be notified when this chapter is posted and a little over twenty have put it in their favorites, which will allow even more eyes to fall on it. A special thank you goes to  sassy973, Mariann's, starboy454, shadowkat87 and redwolf23456, who have left the first reviews on my story. Thank you guys, you have been too kind. Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

The next Morning broke bright and early, mainly because Harry woke John at the crack of dawn, by bouncing on his bed. Cracking one eye open, he sighed.

"You know Harry I do like sleep, even after three hundred years, I don't get tired of it...at least as long as I am in a body." He chuckled.

Harry stopped his bouncing and looked sheepish. "Sorry, but I'm just so excited. I can't wait till we're going over to Hermiones place."

This had John smiling at his son, Harry had, for the most part of his life, been more mature than the rest of his peers, as he had been forced to grow up really quick. Mostly he kept the pace in which he did the growing up and was always further than his classmates. For the first time outside of playing with toys, Harry behaved like a child at the prospect of meeting a friend his own age.

"Well we are invited for 7 pm, so it would be very impolite to arrive before 6:45, It's a half hour drive to their home, sooo...we won't be going till 6:15. So I suggest you calm down and we first get some breakfast in. But before that, go and wash up."

He gave Harry a soft push and the boy raced to his room to get ready for breakfast. They ate in a comfortable silence, they often were really quiet, as they often read books or worked on some concept to make magic work in new ways. So after breakfast John had Harry float all of the dishes to the sink, without the use of his hands. John then gave a mental command to the sink to wash the dishes and the ambient magic complied.

As Harry had taken up martial arts almost four years prior, he had to make his way to practice. But they had found a very interesting way to get him there on time, every time. Harry simply teleported into a specially warded toilet stall at the gym.

After Harry had packed his bag and had disappeared, the phone started ringing. John looked at the clock on the wall, it was 10 o'clock in the morning, who would call them this early? He picked up the Handset.

"Hello?"

"Hello John, it's Dan, Dan Granger."

"Hello Dan, is something wrong?" Dan chuckled tiredly. "Other than my daughter pouncing on me to wake me at the crack of dawn, you mean? No."

John laughed hard at that. "My Harry did the same. Said he was far to excited to stay still, he is currently in his martial arts class."

Dan laughed as well. "Well Hermione has no measure of calm right now and Emma and I were wondering if you wanted to come over sooner?"

Still chuckling, John gave his answer, knowing Harry would freak out once he got home. "Sure, when should we come around your house?"

"We thought about 1 pm, after lunch. Then we can have a long chat about all things magic?"

"That will be OK, Harry will have time to shower and have lunch."

John smiled as he heard Hermione ask her father if they would be over sooner and he must have nodded. There was a squeal of delight and the sound of feet running up a set of stairs.

"You have no idea how happy my daughter is right now."

"Harry will be the same, once I tell him." The two fathers shared a laugh at this and said their goodbyes.

John was in the middle of preparing lunch, Harry appeared in the middle of the hall.

"I'm back."

John smiled at him. "Had a nice practice?"

"Yes it was good, I feel totally beat and at the same time I feel even better than before."

John grinned. "Well I've got something to tell you that will make your mood even better."

He paused and Harry motioned for him to go on.

"Dan, Hermiones dad, called me a while ago."

Harry was on the verge of screaming at his dad to go on.

"And he asked if we wanted to be over at 1 instead of 7, apparently Hermione was just as anxious to see you again, as you were."

John smiled at Harry. Who however looked at the clock, yelped and raced to the shower. John was laughing and finished lunch so they could eat when Harry came down again.

After Lunch they got into Johns car, a Jaguar that had been abandoned in a shed by the former owner and then had been completely restored by John. When asked by Harry why he had done that, he had said he liked the feel of the car and the work it took gave him something to do while Harry was at school. They drove in silence until John decided, that he was too curios not to ask.

"Harry, how do you feel about Hermione?"

Harry looked at him for a long moment, but saw no reason not to answer.

"I like her." Knowing that the answer was unsatisfactory for John, he elaborated. "I mean she likes books as much as I do, for the same reasons I do. But I can't really describe the rest of why I feel that way." He scrunched up his face thinking. "She is just so determined. I like the quality of that and can understand and relate to it." He paused, then blushed and continued. "I also like the way she scrunches up her face when she thinks. It looks cute on her."

John smiled without malice at him and knew what would quite possibly happen in a few years. _'Dad,...Hermione and I are dating now'_ Checking what he could possibly know on Hermione, which granted wasn't much, he found nothing wrong with that idea. He was still smiling as they pulled into the Grangers driveway.

Dan and Hermione awaited them at the door, Hermione hugged Harry and dragged the boy inside. Dan and John shook hands and the dentist looked at their car.

"Wow is that an original MK2? That thing must have cost a fortune!"

John laughed. "Not at all. I had to completely rebuild it, the owner of the shed it was in, was glad it was gone. I did it so I had something to do with Harry at school."

Dan looked shocked at that, they had a good income, but they were still paying the debt to the bank for their clinic.

"So you don't have to work?" Dan wanted to slap himself, but John took no offence.

"No, we're fairly well off and so I decided to tutor Harry in magic while he is at home and have him attend muggle school the rest of the day. Harry had a highly unstable core as child and it took a very dangerous procedure to cure that. After that, with knowing that I didn't necessarily need to work, I thought it was better to teach him how to control the errant magic that bled from him at times."

Dan nodded and blushed. "I'm sorry I even asked. I was surprised for a moment, it's really non of my business."

He motioned John inside and he waved Dans apology away with a smile.

Emma waited on them inside and upstairs they could hear Hermione speak with Harry...or rather at Harry as he had no chance to answer. After greeting him Emma led the men to the living room and offered up beverages.

"A glass of water would be fine, thank you."

After the adults had settled and had their drinks, they started their talk.

"So..." Emma started. "You are a wizard?"

John nodded. "I am, what some of the more conservative folks would call, a pureblood wizard from an ancient and noble house."

Dan shook his head. "What does this mean?"

"Well our family, Potter, is actually noble, meaning we have a lord ship and Harry has taken up his title with me as his proxy. Ancient means that our family has been around for over 500 years. Pureblood means all my ancestors over the last 15 Generations were magical and had no muggleborn parents or grandparents. Harry would be called a half-blood as his mother was muggleborn, just as your Hermione is."

Emma gasped. "Harry is a lord?"

"Yes thought right now I make the decisions for him and he learns how to, once he is 17 however he will be Lord Harry James Potter, with everything that comes with it."

"Is it common in the magical world to still have a lord ship?"

"No, there are not a lot of lords, real lords that is. But the title has been given to the head of less noble houses. It serves them as an honorary title."

They continued talking about all the little and big differences between the muggle world and the magical world. The children joined them at some point, got bored and sat in a love seat together to read.

After the adults had talked for four hours straight, Emma had previously left the men alone to start dinner, Harry and Hermione nodded off and fell asleep in the love seat. Hermiones head rested on Harrys shoulder and Harrys head rested on hers. The two fathers looked at each other and smiled. Dan was the first to speak.

"We are happy that they seem to get along so well. Our Hermione has had some trouble finding friends and a lot of the kids at school have given her a hard time."

John frowned. "I don't get how someone can not like Hermione, she is a sweet girl. But Harry has had difficulties finding friends as well. It has to do with his early childhood, his parents were murdered as he was just one year old and then he was sent to his mothers sister to live. She and her husband hated magic and abused Harry. I got him out of there and they have paid for it, but Harry usually takes a long time to trust someone new. You can imagine my surprise when he and Hermione hit it off so well together."

Dan nodded. "We completely understand, Hermione normally needs a long time just to be comfortable around children her own age. Adults and authority figures is another matter entirely, she almost whorships them and that had us worried for a while as well. Imagine her being so submissive to authority, it would take a teacher absolutely no effort to...well...do things to her."

John nodded. "Sexual abuse you mean."

Dan blushed, but still agreed. "Yes, of course. We were happy to be able to explain these things to her, even at such a young age. She understood it and we told her to not do anything she was uncomfortable with and that no teacher, policeman or preacher could ask...these things of her."

John sighed deeply, quite happy that Harry was a boy, that in itself didn't guarantee anything, but paired with his vigilante nature, any molester would have a hard time.

Emma called for dinner and the men went to rouse the children. So it was a bleary eyed but hungry girl and boy that sat at the table. Since John had spent the afternoon explaining the wizarding world to Emma and Dan, Dinner was a silent affair.

The kids were far to tired to talk and simultaneous eat, but ever so often they would pause, look at each other and smile. The adults watched them, shook their heads in wonder and smiled as well.

Before long it was time for Harry and John to leave the Grangers. Harry fell asleep as soon as the car had left the driveway. They reached their home and John carried Harry up to his bed for the second time this week. He tucked him in and then went to his own bed to sleep, he knew that tomorrow the first request from Harry would be to invite the Grangers over for dinner, a request he would be more than happy to comply with.

* * *

John was woken by the sound of the television in the living room. Knowing that Harry had very keen ears, probably a left over of his time with his relatives, he'd always wondered why the boy watched his cartoons at the volume of a starting airplane.

He stumbled down the stairs and looked over to where Harry watched the TV, his stuffed bunny under his arm and munching on a bowl of cereal. John smiled as he saw that Harry still used the plush toy for comfort, it had been the first thing he had bought the lad as he came to live with him.

"Good morning Harry."

"Good morning dad. Can I ask something of you."

"Of course." John smiled, here it comes.

"Can we invite Hermione and her parents over, like soon?"

John laughed. 'Called it' "Sure we can, I hope they find the time to come over."

Harry jumped and punched the air, almost spilling his cereal. "YES!"

John chuckled and went to fix himself something for breakfast. They ate and agreed to invite the Grangers for the day after tomorrow. Harry bounded over to the phone to invite them and John checked what he would fix for dinner that day. An over excited Harry bounded back into the kitchen and practically screamed at him, that the Grangers had accepted.

It was later that day when an official looking owl swooped through their window. John opened the letter it carried and had to sit down. Harry, who had just walked in, was worried about his dad.

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?"

It was a pale faced John who gave him the letter, not thinking that secrets would help them any. They had been right and Gringotts had discovered a horcrux in one of their vaults. Harry was pale as well.

"Will we go there today?"

John nodded. "Yes we must, I need the horcrux to help me find the others. I will then destroy it with all of them."

Harry nodded but was still afraid. He could still vividly remember the removal of the horcrux and it had been hard on both of them. While he knew that his guardian was basically immortal, it didn't stop him worrying about him. Just because John had not encountered anything that could kill him, didn't mean there wasn't anything at all that could.

They teleported onto the front steps of Gringotts, entered the bank and John showed the letter to the nearest teller, not bothering to stand in line. The teller read the letter jumped up and practically ran from the hall, behind them people complained and tapped their feet impatiently.

A few minutes later the teller came back into the hall with a goblin guard, he motioned them to follow the guard and they left the hall together, while the teller went back to his job. The guard led them into the bowels of the bank and then underground for a while until they got into a cart and drove down for another 20 minutes.

When they got off, they were right in front of a golden vault door that was guarded by three dragons. The goblin in the lead made hand gesture and spoke quickly in the goblin tongue. The dragons moved aside, albeit grudgingly, and the golden door slowly swung open. Inside they found King Ragnok and 4 goblins dressed in long flowing robes.

'War priests' John thought. "King Ragnok."

They greeted them with a bow. The Goblins bowed back to them.

"Mr. Potter, we have found what you suspected. I can not tell you in words the shame we feel about us harboring one of these horrible abominations. When the time comes in battle or from old age, Death should be welcome like the old friend he is."

John nodded. He was immortal, but he wouldn't tell the goblins that little fact, and the odds were good that Harry was as well.

John spoke. "I would like to thank you, this is a very important piece to the final downfall of the one calling himself Voldemort."

Ragnok nodded and gestured to the for cloaked goblins. "I have brought four war priest to assist you in the destruction of the device."

John bowed again. "I thank you King Ragnok for your more than generous offer, but I had hoped to use this to find any other he might have made and then destroy his soul all at once. If we manage to find and destroy all of his anchors while he is still disembodied, he will die instantly. If we destroy them one after the other, he might get warned and try to get a body or start to posses someone or something."

Ragnok looked surprised. "You can do that?"

"I might even be able to tell you how many he made, may I have a look at it?"

Ragnok nodded and one of the war priests placed a cup on a stone table that rose from the floor. John took a closer look at the cup and could feel the radiant energy of the enclosed soul, on top of the magical properties the cup had itself.

He saw the seal of Hufflepuff on the front and sussed it was probably Helga Hufflepuffs famed lost cup that could enhance the effects of any potion administered with it. He concentrated harder and felt the soul piece embedded in the item.

It was small, his soul stretched so thin, he could be hardly more that a powerless specter right now. Straightening himself, John looked back at Ragnok.

"This is a powerful magical item in its own right, it would be a shame to destroy it. We can cleanse it without obliterating the vessel, so the cup can be used for its original purpose. He has spread his soul thin, very thin. I would say at least six different pieces, eight at most. Once I have more of them together I will know."

Ragnok looked pensive for a moment. "Alright Mr. Potter, I don't like to leave any of them around for longer than necessary, but I think your plan has merit. Very well, take it with you, but make sure no one has access to it."

One of the war priests brought forth an iron box that was inscribed with runes, placed the horcrux inside and closed the lid. Instantly John and Harry lost the feel of the soul fragment.

"Take this box with you and consider it my gift. We will continue the search but we hope that this was the only one." John and Harry bowed to Ragnok and were dismissed.

As they left the bank John heaved a deep sigh. They teleported back to their home where John placed the box in his magical workspace, a hidden room of the side of their basement and the only room that had absolutely no magical modification done to it. As he came back up the stairs, he saw Harry standing there looking troubled.

"What is bothering you son?"

Harry sighed deeply. "It's not right, I go to school somewhere in Scotland and you have to find the remaining horcruxes alone. I'm worried about you dad."

John smiled at him to reassure him. "Harry, it is incredibly hard to harm me and almost impossible to kill me, don't worry about me. Just be a child for once and enjoy your childhood as good as you can. We work so hard to prepare you, in case you ever have to fight him directly, but find these things, that I can do alone. You go to school, be friends with Hermione and enjoy school."

Harry shrugged. "I know all of that. It doesn't make it any easier. I know you are incredibly tough, but still promise me to be careful."

"I will son. I will be careful. I promise."

Harry nodded at that and smiled. He left for his room and his books, leaving his dad standing in their hall. John frowned at Harrys retreating back, the boy had never asked him to be careful before, knowing that he couldn't die from conventional means. That he would do now, it worried John.

John was in the middle of preparing lunch, when Harry reappeared down the stairs. He looked aggravated.

"What's the matter son?" John smiled at Harry from his place at the stove.

Harry huffed. "It's just that I have to wait another day and a half till Hermione gets here. I don't like to wait."

While that was true, Harry hated to wait on anything, he never was this grumpy when he had to wait.

"I can sense that, while true, isn't the entire reason."

Harry blushed a little. "Maybe not. But I finally find a friend I want to be around and then I have to wait so bloody long."

John chuckled as he chastised Harry. "Language. And you don't have to wait." Here Harry perked up. "You can ask if you can come over or if Hermione wants to come here and you two can spent time together."

Harrys face lit up the room and he was already on the way to the phone, but...

"After Lunch, Harry." The boy turned around and smiled sheepishly.

They ate in silence and after lunch John said he would call the Grangers to arrange his play date. Harry blushed and scowled at the same time, which robbed the scowl of quite a bit of effect. He picked up the phone and dialed the number he had from Dan Granger. It rang thrice and then Emma picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello Emma, it's John. My Harry has a longing for your Hermione." The parents laughed at that.

"Well we can't have him lonely, have him come over in half an hour."

"Will do, but don't be surprised if he just appears out of thin air."

"He can do that? Are you serious?"

John deflated a bit at the panic in Emmas voice. "Yes he can, but if you are uncomfortable with it I can drive him over just as well."

There was a pause on Emmas side. "Hmm... If you don't mind I would prefer that."

"Not at all, I can understand that you are still coming to terms with magic and all."

Emma laughed, it sounded relived, but still nervous through the phone. "Thank you for understanding, don't get me wrong, we love to have you and Harry over..."

"But you're more comfortable with me driving him to you, instead of him just popping up. No Problem. We have to get going to be there in half an hour. Bye Emma."

"Goodbye John."

After he had hung up, he called for Harry. The lad appeared from his room. John told him to get ready, so he could drive him to the Grangers. Harry turned, took three steps up the stairs and smiled the entire way. He was down again in five minutes and they got into Johns car. There was hardly any traffic and before long they had arrived. Hermione awaited them at the door and pulled Harry into a hug.

"It's so nice to have you come over today."

Harry smiled. "I simply didn't want to wait another day to see you again."

Blushing Hermione took Harrys hand and pulled him inside. John chuckled at them and followed at a much more sedated pace. Emma came to the door and asked him inside.

She looked a bit pale and asked John to sit with her in the kitchen for a moment. He saw a steaming cup of tea on the table and Emma asked if he would like some. He nodded and soon they sat in front of their cups sipping their tea. It took a moment for Emma to compose her thoughts before she spoke.

"John...it scares me to think...that wizards could jump into our house at any moment. After what you told us...a lot of people possess this skill... Appearation it's called?"

"Apparition, yes it's a very common skill, almost every adult wizard is capable of doing it."

"And Harry can do that!? But he is still so young!" Emma was amazed that the eleven ear old boy would be capable of something that normally only adults could do.

"Harry is an extremely powerful wizard, he knows it and knows how to control the power he has. But to answer your question, no Harry can not apparate, not because he couldn't learn it, far from it in fact, but because it requires a license, much like driving a car. Harry and I can teleport, it's a different form of magical travel, one that is all but forgotten today."

John had already guessed where this conversation was headed and checked a few facts he would need in a few moments.

"You also mentioned...wards?"

'Bingo' "Yes, magical barriers."

"Could you put them against the...Apparition?"

"Yes, I can guess where you're going with this. Normally I could not put them up around your home."

Emma frowned. "What...Why?"

"Because you are not magical and Hermione is only eleven, but remember I said normally, I know a way around that."

"How?"

John had to fight down a smile. 'What's it with that woman and her one word questions?' "By officially declaring Hermione a friend of the Potter Family. This allows me to protect her, and by extension you and Dan, in the magical world. This would allow me to ward any properties she would be staying on. Your house would fit that category of course."

Emma took a deep breath, but John held up his hand.

"No you needn't ask, I will of course ward it against teleportation as well." He smiled.

Emma deflated a bit and smiled sheepishly. "It's not that I don't trust you, but..."

John laughed. "Emma we have know each other for all but three days now and while our children are becoming seemingly joined at the hip, I would have thought it really strange for you to trust us with the ability to enter your home at any given time. Also know there are no strings attached to the friend of the family thing, it grants you more rights, gives me more responsibility, but you commit to nothing and can renounce it at anytime."

Here Emma laughed as well. "I know what you are trying to tell me and I have a deep feeling that I can trust you, I talked with Dan and it's the same for him. We don't know how it happened, but sometimes it feels like we have known each other for years."

"I know. I am so happy Harry found a friend in Hermione and I'd like for us to be friends as well, but friendship needs time to bloom. I'd dare say the seed has been planted well."

They sat for a while longer, not really talking about anything. Then John excused himself and told Emma he would take the necessary steps for the wards on their home. John asked when he should pick Harry back up and Emma told him they were happy to have him for dinner and that he pick him up at 8 pm. Father and son said goodbye and Harry watched his dad drive off. John teleported to the ministry as soon as he had parked the car in their garage.

-Back at the Grangers-

Harry watched his dad drive off and turned back to Hermione. "Well what would you like to do?"

"I would like to practice a few more of the spells I read about and I thought maybe you could help me with that."

Harry smiled. "I'd love to try, but my wand is not done yet, but I can still try and help you with your spells."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean with 'not done yet'?"

Harry shrugged, blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't really suited for any of the wands at the shop, so Mr Ollivander will have to make mine from scratch."

He was a bit embarrassed by always being different, even though he had gotten used to it. The lesson about being freak, he had so painfully learned at the hands of Vernon all these years ago, was still present though and he was suddenly afraid that his first real friend would now think differently about him. But he didn't need to worry about it.

"That is so cool!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry smiled and was dragged of by Hermione to her room. She promised him to let him have a try at the spells with her wand, after all what could go wrong?

It happened half an hour later, Hermione had practiced and mastered the color changing spell and handed her wand to Harry to try it out. He pointed the wand at the carpet on the floor and imagined a light gray.

He spoke the incantation and suddenly the floor, walls and ceiling were all in a strange staccato of grays, the items in Hermiones room soon followed and turned black and/or white. Hermiones room now looked like a collaboration of M.C. Escher and Picasso.

The children looked at each other and started laughing and then panicking. Hermione snatched her wand back and tried to finish the charm. But as Harry had ridiculously over powered the spell, the _finite_ did nothing.

Hermione looked pleadingly at Harry and he needed a moment to remember himself that he could cancel the effects of the spell wandlessly. He waved his hands for a second and slowly the items and the room itself returned to their former color. Hermione gaped at him and feeling a bit cocky he reached out and closed her mouth with two fingers.

She regained her bearings and whispered at him.

"You did magic without a wand! How?"

Harry once more looked very sheepish. "I do it since I was six. John saved me back then. My magical core almost exploded. The wandless magic thing was a by product, he can do it too. His core was the same as mine."

He closed his eyes and waited for the words to fall. ' _Freak, Abomination..._ '

"What he did to you, can he do that to me?"

Harry opened his eyes to see Hermione look expectantly at him. "What!?"

"Do you think I could have what you have, I want to do wandless magic."

"I don't think so, John said I could very well have died then. He only did it because I would have died for sure if he didn't. He wouldn't have done it otherwise."

Hermione looked crestfallen. "Oh that is...not quite what I thought it was. I am sorry, you could have died and paid a high price for the ability. I don't want it, if it means risking my life."

Harry smiled at her. "It's okay Hermione, I lived. Maybe we can later find a way for you to do wandless magic. Dad said some wizards have managed to develop it, even if it is weaker than what we can do."

Hermione beamed at him. "I have to read up on this, Hogwarts is said to have the greatest magical library in the UK. Thank you." She hugged him.

Hermione had Harry demonstrate all kinds of wandless magic to her and was amazed that he could basically do all of the spells she had read up on in the first year spell book. When she asked him why he even went to Hogwarts in first year, he answered that he had to learn it all again using a wand.

"Wand magic is vastly different than wandless, it takes a lot less concentration and intent, it also consumes a lot less power, though I guess that's because the effects will mostly be weaker as well. But it is a lot faster to cast as well, so it's not bad to have if you have to do it in a hurry. The wand is also a lot more precise, think a doctors scalpel compared to a lumberjacks axe."

"Harry you can't compare those two."

"That's exactly what I mean. A doctor wouldn't take the axe to perform surgery on someone, at the same time a lumberjack would not try to chop down a tree with a scalpel. Two tools, two different purposes. Though I guess in this case, you could use each for either one."

Hermione looked pensive for a moment. "I guess that makes some sense."

They both looked at each other and smiled.

Later in the afternoon, after Hermiones curiosity had been sated, she took Harry for a stroll around their neighborhood and to a playground that was close by. They sat on the swings and Hermione looked at Harry with a brilliant smile and sad eyes.

"What's the matter Hermione? You kind of look sad on the inside."

Truth being told, Harry had long since figured out what the colors were, that he had kind of not seen first on the day John had gotten him from the Dursleys. He could gauge emotions and the current state of people by these colors. Hermione was a pale greenish/brownish color that usually indicated sadness, but at the same time had a yellow outer edge that usually meant someone was happy. Hermione gave a sad laugh at her weird new friend.

"I usually never come here, it makes no sense to do so alone."

Harry smiled at her. "You don't have to come here alone. If you want to go, just give me a call, I'll go with you. Or you can come over to my house, we have a playground over their, I can introduce you to the kids of the neighborhood. Granted their not as smart as you, but they make decent playmates."

Harry used the exact same words his dad had used as they had moved into their house.

Hermione smiled at him even brighter. "I'd like that."

They played for a bit, for once just children, their usual mature nature left behind in the sandbox. They were laughing and joking around and so didn't notice a broad shadow moving in front of the sun.

"Granger, I thought your parents had you committed. You freakish little bint, thought you couldn't have any reason to come here."

Harry saw Hermione shrink away from the obese girl that had been talking. Looking her up and down, he found she looked very much like a female Dudley. She was about 14 years old and seemingly liked picking on younger victims. Harry rose and his anger rose with him. Bullies were one of the things he HATED more than waiting.

"Leave her alone!"

He went to stand in between Hermione and her tormentor. The older girl looked down at him.

"And who are you? That your boyfriend Granger?"

Harry though was far from finished. "I am her protector, if you want to hurt her you have to go through me first!"

He was furious by now, he had already dealt with the bullies in his neighborhood, he wasn't about to let them get away with it here. The big girl had enough of this strange boys lip.

She pulled her arm back and hit Harry square in the face, he didn't even flinch before the fist hit him. He was knocked down and his lip split open, he could have dodged, but with Hermione directly behind him, he didn't want to move out of the way. Harry picked himself up, brushed sand off his shirt and wiped blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He smiled at the older girl and it wasn't the friendly type of smile either.

"You look like a bulldozer, but you hit like a ballet dancer. Was that all you got?"

Hermione looked at Harry like he had gone mad. She had been on the receiving end of these punches and knew they hurt. The 'Femley', as Harry had dubbed her, punched him again and he got up again, his nose had started bleeding.

"Defend yourself!" Femley shouted at him.

"My dad forbid me from hitting girls. I'm not sure if he meant mean bullies like you as well, but I think you still count."

She hit him once more, one more cut in his lip. Harry had been on the end of far worse abuse and simply shrugged it off. Yes it hurt, yes he was in pain, but John could fix him up later. This was something he had to do, he had to stand up for Hermione. The girl in question was crying behind him.

"Clarisse stop hitting him, he didn't do anything to you."

So now Femley had a name. Harry kept his eyes on Clarisses, but answered Hermione.

"Don't bother Hermione, filth like her doesn't need a reason to hurt you, they do it for fun."

As he saw her pull her arm back once more, he moved closer to her and spat blood in her face. She stopped mid-swing and wiped at her face, the humiliated bully left them crying and wiping blood from her eyes. Hermione got up from where she was still cowering on the ground in fear.

"Harry!" She got around to face him, flinching horribly as she saw his face. His nose and lip were bleeding and one of his eyes started to close from the swelling. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and cried harder. Harry placed his hands on her shoulders and looked intensely into her eyes.

"Bullies fear on thing more than any other. They fear someone they can not break. Remember that."

Hermione only nodded and then hugged Harry hard.

"Lets go home. Someone has to look at your injuries." She told him between sobs.

"Don't worry, my dad will patch me up in about two seconds, when he gets me." He tried a smile, but his lip split open and started to bleed again.

They walked the short distance home and Hermione called her mom as they went through the door. Emma appeared from the living room, saw Harry and immediately hurried over to them, dropped to one knee and looked at the lads injuries. She looked at Hermione.

"How did this happen!?"

Hermione fidgeted nervously. "That was Clarisse. She tried to bully me while we were on the playground and when Harry stood up for me, she punched him, a few times..."

She trailed off at the end not knowing what to say next. Harry saw the distraught girl begin to cry again and before Emma could react, he had wrapped her into a hug. She saw the beat up boy comfort her, luckily unhurt, daughter and could barley believe it.

"Harry we have to get your injuries treated." Emma tried to get his attention.

The next quarter of an hour was spent by Emma trying to get Harrys cuts and bruises treated and Harry being adamant his dad would fix him up when he came by to pick him up. They finally settled on Emma calling John to come over and do the fixing up sooner. She dialed the number and John picked up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hello John, this is Emma. Could you please come over here, Hermione was accosted by a bully in the playground and Harry got involved! He is hurt and refuses to let us treat him. He says you can patch him up in a few seconds."

"I'll be over as soon as I can, I'll get into the car right away!"

"John wait, maybe just this once, you can use your teleport?"

"OK, I'll be right over."

She heard the click in the line as he hung up and heard his voice a second later, right behind her.

"OK where is he."

Emma had flinched and spun right as she heard his voice and now pointed to the kitchen. John hurried over and looked at Harry. He looked back at Emma.

"You can calm down, it's nothing I can't fix."

Emma breathed a sigh of relieve. She then watched as John waved his hands over the boy and gasped in surprise as Harrys wounds closed right up. The swelling around his eye receded until it was gone. He then sat opposite Harry, who still had a sniffling Hermione beside him, refusing to let go of his arm. John looked the girl over.

"Are you hurt, Hermione?"

She shook her head no. He turned his attention back to Harry.

"OK son, what happened?"

"Well this girl, Clarisse, was bullying Hermione and you know how much I hate bullies."

John nodded, he had quite a few conversations with the parents of the neighborhood bullies that were not enjoyable. The other kids however paraded Harry as their hero. He never stood down when a weaker kid needed help, even if the bully was twice the size of him.

"So I stood inbetween her and Hermione. I couldn't move out of the way or she would have hit Hermione and you told me not to hit girls."

John shook his head. "I think we need to make some exemptions to that rule. Bullies for example."

Harry nodded. "Anyway I showed her I didn't fear her and after I spat in her face she ran off crying."

John shook his head again. "It was very brave what you did for Hermione, of that I am proud, but did you have to spit at her?"

Harry nodded, convinced it was the right thing to do. "I wanted to show her she couldn't break me."

John nodded accepting the explanation. It was not to shame a victim, but an act of defiance to his tormentor. He wanted Harry to do things for the right reasons.

He was easily powerful enough to wipe the floor with just about any ordinary person. The chances of him becoming a bully were slim, but still there and he always watched out for signs of Harry abusing other people or his power over them.

As he came from an abusive household and sometimes children from these familys grew up to be abusive as well. Though he liked to think that he got Harry out of there early enough. Harrys voice shook him from his musings.

"Dad why is there a wardstone in your pocket?"

John smiled. "It's for this home, since this afternoon, Hermione and her parents are officially friends of the Potters. I would tell you that you have to watch out for Hermione at school, but you seem to have that part down pat."

He laughed quietly and it seemed to calm Emmas frayed nerves and had her come into the kitchen proper. John looked at her.

"Where is Dan?"

Emma smiled. "He's on the golf course today and has an 18 hole game with on of our suppliers. He might still be a while."

"I will, with your permission activate the wardstone I have brought. It has the wards on it you wanted."

Emma nodded and John pulled the stone from his pocket. It was a simple cuboid stone the size of a pebble and on it where several tiny symbols. He touched a few of the symbols and handed the stone to Emma.

"Hide it somewhere. No one will now be able to simply appear or disappear in or from your home."

"Thank you, what do I owe you?"

"Perhaps another delicious home cooked dinner. There can be no debt between friends."

Emma smiled. "Thank you again."

It was only a little while later that Dan came home. He greeted Hermione, Harry and John, kissed his wife and was filled in on the happenings of the day. He thanked Harry for defending of his daughter and then they all settled down for dinner. Emma and Dan invited John to join them as it made no sense for him to head home now, only to pick up Harry later and there was plenty of food for all of them.

After dinner Harry and John had to make their way home, they would have to walk a little while to get out of the wards John had activated earlier. They said their goodbyes and Hermione kissed Harrys cheek after their goodbye hug. Both children blushed horribly and were smiling from ear to ear.

They promised to call the other day. As John and Harry made their way to the end of the driveway, father and son shared a long look and a long silence. Then the elder pulled the younger into a hug.

"I'm proud of you son. Not many would have stood up to a bully bigger and older than them."

Harry smiled. "I couldn't let Hermione get hurt."

That was the second time he had kept the girl from harm, while Harry stood up to bullies no matter what, he seemed to have a deeper connection with Hermione. He decided to keep this in the back of his mind and just smiled at Harry. They took a few more steps on the sidewalk and then disappeared.

They reappeared at home and John sent Harry to wash up before bed, deciding to turn in as well. It had been a long day indeed. He tucked Harry in and after a quick shower laid down on his own bed. It didn't take him long to fall asleep and his last conscious thoughts were about his son, they would have long talk in the morning concerning self defense.


	3. Goblins, Staffs and a stone dead Raven

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone that follows, favorites and reviews. Getting over a hundred people following is amazing and I can hardly believe so many people want to read this.

All of you who do however, I need your help. I have added a poll to my profile. Please vote on whether I should get Luna in the story early or if I should wait until their second year to introduce her. You can also vote on whether or not you want Xenophilius to live.

The choice is yours!

Now have fun with the next chapter...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

For once John woke up before Harry and when he looked in on the lad, he found him sleeping contently. Deciding against waking him, despite feeling a little vengeful, he went downstairs.

After a light breakfast and a cup of tea, John went into his workspace. He got the iron box Ragnok had given them on his workbench and opened it. Immediately the energy of the horcrux tainted the air. Taking a deep breath John began to examine the spell woven into the cup. It was incredibly hard to decipher, as the enchantments on the cup got in the way.

After an hour of intensive study he locked the horcrux back in it's box. After the influence of the soul piece had been removed, he took a look at the notes he had made. John took the notepad he had used up to the kitchen. Harry had by now gotten up and was currently pouring himself a bowl of cereal when he entered.

"Good morning Harry."

Harry smiled at him and rubbed his eyes. "Good morning dad."

John smiled but then his face grew serious. "After you finish your breakfast, we have to talk about yesterday."

Harry looked mildly panicked, but his father put him at ease. "Don't worry your not in trouble."

Harry breathed a sigh of relieve and went to watch cartoons while eating his breakfast. John however stayed in the kitchen and sat at the small table they had set up in it. He looked once more at the equations and runes he had jotted down while looking at the soul anchor. There were some loops in it and parts that curved in on them selves in spirals it seemed. Shaking his head he looked at the runes he had copied down. They were like nothing else he had ever seen and the universal bank of knowledge came up empty too.

He threw the pad on the table just as Harry entered from the living room. The boy looked at his dad and wondered, he had never seen him this frustrated. He decided to take a look at what had John so down. He glanced at the paper and saw a few hard calculations and a string of basic runes. The calculations were hardly Johns problem, he had seen him solve harder ones in less than five minutes. If it was not the math that caused the problems...it must have been the runes.

"Dad? Why are you so put out by a few runes?"

"I don't recognize them and if I can't figure out the runes...I can't solve the equation up here." John jabbed his finger on the paper.

Harry frowned at his dad. "How can you not read these? You taught them to me, not quite a year ago."

John couldn't believe what Harry told him. "Read them out to me."

Harry started reading and after the third rune John broke out laughing.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?"

Harry looked confused, he had read. He could do that since he was five, so how was this a big deal now.

John continued. "You hissed!"

"I did what?!" Harry was even more confused now.

"You hissed. You are a parselmouth. I should have seen the ability, but never checked on it. Come to think of it, we have never met any snakes before. Do it again."

Harry frowned, but read the runes out loud again. This time he tried to listen to himself while he was reading. Indeed his voice had a hissing quality to it. John, in the meantime, watched Harrys magic closely. He quickly found the magical pattern that carried the parsel ability and copied it to himself. As soon as he was done integrating the pattern into his own magic, the runes swam in focus and he could read them clear as day. No wonder he had hardly gotten the notes done on the horcrux.

"It's okay, now I can read them too."

"But what is a parselmouth dad?"

"You have the ability to speak to snakes and now so can I. There is a written portion included in it as well. I think you can cast in it too."

Harry shook his head to clear it. Strange things happened to him so often, he had stopped wondering about them.

"Glad I could help." He shrugged and then turned to go to his room.

"Wait up, son. You don't think I have forgotten our little chat."

Harry winced, he had hoped his dad had forgotten over the runes. John waved him to the living room. Harry sat on the couch, while John pulled an armchair over to sit opposite him. The boy looked at his father. The man had closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to get his thoughts in order first.

"Harry the first thing I have to tell you, is how proud I am of you. Of standing up to bullies and in general. I am proud that you call me dad and even father." John paused for a second.

"But yesterday you got hurt. You got hurt by defending a friend. No let me finish first." He held up his hand, as he saw Harry opening his mouth to interject.

"There is nothing wrong with being hurt in the defense of someone. But I know for a fact that you could have at least blocked these punches. You deliberately got yourself hurt and I want to know why. Why have you not at least blocked that girl? Not beating her to a pulp, even thought you could have. I can understand that. But why take the punches?"

Harry looked pensive for a while. He actually didn't know why he had done it this way. It just felt right. He thought back to the playground and Clarisse calling Hermione names and the fearful look in the smaller girls eyes.

"I think I did it that way, because Hermione was so scared of her. It wasn't physical intimidation, at least not all of it. It was terror at facing her tormentor. I wanted to show her that bullies can hurt your body, but you mustn't let them hurt your soul. I wanted her to see that bullies fear those they can not break."

John nodded, he had thought as much. He was still happy that Harrys reasoning went further than 'I wanted to impress Hermione'. But truth being told he managed that just as well. Thinking back to the evening before, he thought of the kiss. It was innocent enough. A girl kissing a boy on the cheek, nothing to worry about. The thing that got him to think was the brilliant blush both children sported afterward.

"I think you managed that. What I'm not sure of is, if it was the best route to do so. Please do me a favor, son, next time defend yourself. Even if your attacker is a girl, just measure your response accordingly. I'm still proud of you, I just don't want you hurt."

Harry nodded, deep in thought. "I will dad."

John sighed deeply. Now that the easier stuff had been dealt with, John swallowed nervously. He didn't want to discuss this topic. Originally he had wanted to wait until Harry came to him, asking the right questions. With the crush that Hermione now seemed to develop on Harry...Well better sooner than later.

"Harry, I think it's time we talked about something else. And since we are already comfortably seated..."

Harry felt a feeling of dread sneak up on him. "OK, what are we talking about?"

"Well Harry you might have noticed, that boys and girls are quite different from each other..."

After a very in depth talk about boys, girls and sexuality in general, a very red faced Harry left the living room to head to his room. He had to stomach all the information, he had just been given.

John looked after him. It seemed like yesterday, when he had bought that plush bunny for a six year old Harry. Now, at eleven, he had given him 'the talk' and quite a bit more information. The lad was mature enough for it, but needed time to digest it. John sighed, at least Harry and Hermione were still to young to even think about being romantically involved with anyone. How long that would last, nature would decide.

Later that day Harry kept his promise to Hermione and called her. They talked a while on the phone and spoke about the books they had read. Harry asked if they would meet up, but sadly Hermione would go shopping with her mother. They would meet the next day, when the Grangers would come over for dinner.

The rest of the day passed in relative quiet. John had gone back to his workspace and Harry read a few more of his books. The most interesting things he had read, were books on the properties and behavior of potion ingredients. Armed with this knowledge he had gone, brewed and re-brewed most of the potions in their first year potions text. It was very easy to make some simple adjustments to the recipes. These either made the brewing faster or increased the potency of it. He jotted the changes he made down as a side note in his book. This afternoon he was deconstructing a potion he found in a second year text, he had picked up used.

John in the meantime was back at the horcrux. The work on 'the damn thing' went quite a bit faster now. He looked at the symbols that flitted across his vision and wrote down his calculations. The arithmancy that had gone into the creation of the horcrux, was quite basic. If he compared it to what he knew, John found it to be quite overloaded. It was the reason for the loops and spirals. They created effects, that were easier to create in other parts of the equation.

Finally John found the root, the essence of Tom Riddles soul. He drew a copy of it into a crystal, much like a muggle policeman taking a fingerprint. This would enable him to find horcruxes that were nearby. What he needed now, was a way to plot their rough location in the country. It would be quite a bit harder, as Voldemort would have surely warded their hiding spots.

After several hours of work, Johns back cracked as he stood. As he had worked right through lunch time, it was almost time for dinner now. He went upstairs to look for Harry and found him in the small potions lab he had set up. He walked up behind the boy and looked over his shoulder. Harry was writing in his potions book. Parents of ordinary children might shout, when they see their charges scribbling in their school books. But John was no ordinary father and Harry no ordinary child. The elder studied the notes the younger had made and found them to be quite good.

"Very nice Harry, you seem to have a knack for potions."

"It's really nice. The books we picked up last time helped a lot. They are only on the basics of reactions and properties of ingredients."

John thought about this for a moment. "When we get your wand, we will pick up some of the more advanced texts and a bigger potions kit for you."

Harry beamed at him. It was amazing to see the happiness that he could generate in the boy. That it came from just a few books and ingredients, made it all the more incredible.

"Did you make any progress on the horcrux?" Harry asked.

"Yes I have almost deconstructed his process. He seemingly didn't use a real ritual, at least not for this one. His calculations are all over the place, in circles and spirals. Done by someone that knows arithmancy but knew only hearsay about horcruxes. I think all of his soul anchors might be unstable to a point. They are stable enough to remain and keep the soul piece inside. As you have felt it before, you'll have noticed the amount of energy that comes from them. I think it is part of the loops in the magic. It circles soul energy and magic out of the horcrux and back in again. If they are all like this, I might be able to use the horcruxes like homing beacons. An enchanted map might be a good idea to get their rough location. With them, presumably, heavily warded, it's going to be very rough."

John had lapsed back into his mind roughly halfway through his rant. The plans for the map were already taking form in his brain. It would take a while to enchant it and tune it to the horcruxes energy, but it should be ready by the time Christmas came around. Harry's voice startled him from his thoughts.

"I don't think the wards will hinder the detection much. I have felt the energy from it and it will bleed heavily through them."

John looked pensive for a moment. "Not if he knew what he was doing. I agree however. Wards alone will not be enough to shut it out completely. Any pointers to their general location will help me greatly. I have Riddles signature to look for when I am close by. I will make a pendant that will react to his unique signature and I will make a second one for you. Take it with you, everywhere you go. If it reacts you call for me."

Harry nodded and as if on cue his stomach growled. John looked at the clock.

"It seems we have skipped lunch, are you up for an early dinner? I'm afraid its not going to be home cooked food and we have to order some take out..." He was interrupted by Harrys almost silent victory cry and smiled at the lad.

"Pizza, Chinese or what?"

Harry thought about it and finally settled for pizza. He loved pizza. John ordered them on the phone and they were delivered a rough half hour later. Both of them attacked their pizzas with gusto and were finished astoundingly fast.

After they had eaten, Harry insisted on the second part of the Back to the Future trilogy. John didn't even complain anymore and hoped that they would invent a format that could keep movies better that VHS. Preferably before he had to buy the third set of cassettes.

After the movie had, once again, ended with Marty scaring poor Doc Brown half to death, Harry and John went to bed. Tomorrow the Grangers would come over for dinner. John had decided on a simple meal, knowing he could not even hope to compete with Emmas cooking. Harry on the other hand was very excited to see Hermione again. He went to bed with a smile on his face. His last thoughts before sleep claimed him, were about the girl that very quickly was becoming his best friend.

* * *

The next morning started somewhat slow. It was already nine o'clock as John made his way downstairs and Harry was still asleep. He looked out the kitchen window, only to find two sets of amber eyes looking back in. John quickly moved to the window to relieve the birds of their burden. They hooted at him and left. A quick look at the stationary showed one letter came from Gringotts. John had a feeling he knew what it would be about. The other showed Ollivanders seal. Wondering if the wand maker had already finished Harrys wand he opened it first.

Apparently the wand maker was not finished with the wand he had been tasked with. He wrote about having troubles working the many cores into one. He asked for them to come by his store at their earliest convenience. John wondered what it might be all about, but resolved that they could visit the man today to find out.

Turning to the letter from Gringotts, he found he had been right in his assumption. They had indeed found a second horcrux in another vault. Ragnok asked them to come by as soon as possible to claim it. He also stressed bringing the box for transportation. So their visit to diagon alley would have two stops.

John was preparing some bacon and eggs for breakfast, as Harry entered the kitchen yawning. The exchanged their greetings and while they ate, John filled Harry in on their appointments for the day. He also said that they would have time to go to the book store again and pick up the books they had talked about the previous day. This got Harry smiling and giddy to get ready.

An hour later they teleported into the alley and first went to Gringotts to get the second horcrux. This time a goblin guard actually recognized them and took them down directly. They entered the same golden vault as last time and waited on Ragnok. It took about twenty minutes for the king of the goblins to arrive. Harry and John bowed again in greeting and Ragnok gave them a slight bow in return.

"It is good to see you again. Have you made any progress on these things, since the last time we spoke?"

John quickly composed himself. "Yes, I have deconstructed the horcrux in the cup and was able to find his magical signature. This alone will help to further my search. I now seek to use what I can gleam from the second to make a magical map. This map should show me the approximate location of all the horcruxes. We don't know yet how wards may interfere with that. With the amount of energy radiating from these things, I still believe that wards alone will not shield them."

Ragnok nodded. "These are good news indeed. Now I see you brought the box as asked. Let us be quick about this, we'd like to be rid of it."

John handed the box over and Ragnok got a book from a steel cabinet of the side. The cabinet was heavily enchanted. Both Harry and John felt the enchantments on it as it was opened. After that there was only the accursed soul anchor. The goblin king added the book to the box and locked it back up. Everybody sighed after the lid was closed.

"That concludes our business today. We have something else to talk about however."

John motioned for Ragnok to go on.

"We are considering making you friends to our nation. I am telling you this upfront, to impress on you what honor this would bring to your family."

John didn't even pause to think. "And we would be honored to accept. Never once fear King Ragnok, this would be the greatest honor you could bestow on us."

Ragnok laughed at this. "Then I will be glad to support the notion. Farewell, until we meet again."

They again bowed to the King and left. After they had set foot into the alley again, John teleported to his workspace. He placed the iron container on the table and returned to Harrys side. They then turned to the wandmakers shop. On arrival they entered the dusty shop, only to hear profanities being uttered in a back room. Cursing Mr Ollivander made his way to the front, his grim face lightened as he saw who had entered.

"Mr Potter and Mr Potter. I am glad you could make it. I am still trying to figure out the wand situation. Please follow me."

The wandmaker turned and lead them into his workspace. His workbench was charred in places and arcs of magic shot from what looked like a vice. Mr Ollivander got some dragonhide gloves and released the vice. He grabbed the item inside and quickly brought his hands apart. In each hand he held a feather and on the bench in the middle lay a hair. The wandmaker placed the feathers down and turned to John.

"As you can see, the core materials react quite violently to each other. I can't make them work together. I can not start on the shell, if the core is not ready."

Mr Ollivander was starting to sound exasperate. Harry in the meantime had wandered over to the workbench and had picked up the feathers. He looked them over for a second and inverted one of them. As he brought the quills of the feathers together, he felt a hum go through them. He picked up the thestral hair and wrapped it around the quills. The now joined feathers began vibrating while the hair glowed a bright white. The release of magic was felt by John and the wandmaker. The former had seen Harry sneak to the workbench and wasn't surprised. Ollivander almost fell over himself while spinning around.

"Oh...my..." The wandmakers eyes, already unusually large, seemed to widen to new proportions. "How is this possible?"

He looked at the joined feathers. He scrambled for a book on the shelf. Thumbing through the pages, he tried to find what he was looking for.

"I'm afraid the core is to big for a wand, but...Aha!" He turned the book to them so they could see. In it their were a few drawings and small bodies of text. The page was headed by the word 'Staff'.

"A Staff?" John raised an eyebrow at Ollivander.

"Yes, we haven't made one in forever. Hardly anyone possesses the power to wield them. I would be honored to make it."

Harry sighed exasperatedly. "Can't I be normal for once?"

John chuckled. "No, I don't think so. But a staff is a great tool. Better than a wand too, more control and more power. It will serve you well."

Mr Ollivander stood close by and nodded the entire time. He wore a shit eating grin and rubbed his hands in glee.

"I will go right back to work. I have to make bigger blanks now. Thank you very much Mr Potter, I appreciate your help." He led them outside and closed the door.

"Dad, that man is odd." Harry stood there a bit wide eyed.

John laughed. "Odd is a good start, but I don't think it ends there. He is one of the best though. Perhaps you need a bit of madness to be a genius."

They made their way to flourish and blot's and Harry picked up several books on potions, ingredient preparation and reactions. They stopped by the apothecary and picked up a newt level potions kit and then John led the way to a specialty potions store. Here he bought five knifes, specially crafted for potions, as a gift for Harry. They were made without magic, so residue couldn't contaminate the ingredients. They had, however, runes engraved down their side. They served to sharpen the knife and make it durable, but since it was passive magic, it didn't leave the knifes material.

By the time they returned home, Harry was wearing a perpetual grin. He went to his room and began reading the books they had bought. John desperately wanted to study the second horcrux, but a short glance at the clock told him to better make lunch today.

After a light lunch John and Harry sat at their kitchen table in companionable silence. John was reading through his notes again, trying to understand the ritual that went into the horcruxes. Harry however was writing on his own notepad and tried to deconstruct a potion he had just read about. Both were working hard until Harry glanced at the clock, yelped and raced to his room to get ready. He shouted while he ran, that the Grangers would be there in about an hour. Sighing John placed his notes down and started preparations for dinner.

Fifty minutes later they heard the doorbell ring and Harry raced to the door. He opened it for Mr and Mrs Granger. Hermione had exploded through the door as soon as she could fit through and held Harry in a hug. John saw Harry smiling from the kitchen and heard him ask the Grangers for their coats. They had non as it was a very warm evening outside, but formalities had to be obeyed.

John came from the kitchen to greet Hermione and her parents. He saw the amazed looks the elder Grangers threw around the house. They knew the Potters were filthy rich and yet they lived in a very small house, at least by rich people standards.

Harry had taken Hermione by the hand and gave her a tour of the house. He showed her living room with their ordinary bookshelves and after asking John, showed her the magical bookshelves in the basement. His room was last on the tour and Hermione immediately spied the bunny plush on Harrys bed. She went over picked it up and cuddled it, while Harry stood by the door and flushed with embarrassment. When Hermione saw how red he had become, while she cooed over the toy, she told him it was a cute bunny. She also told him that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. Harry then, still blushing a little, showed her the magical bookshelves in his room. They were enchanted to hold over a thousand books and Harry had managed to fill them to about half.

When they returned back downstairs, they found the adults in a discussion about electricity vs magic. Amongst a lot of laughing they found that almost anything magic did for wizards and witches, the muggles had invented an electric appliance for. Some like the television were even more advanced then what the magical population had.

They sat down to dinner. During their meal, Hermione and Harry wore perpetual grins and Hermione often stole looks at Harry, who remained blissfully ignorant of the possible meaning this could have. John had to bite back a laugh at that thought. After all, his son, despite being highly intelligent and mature, was totally clueless when it came to girls.

The adults however didn't miss the stolen glances and shared smiles. They shared smiles of their own, almost sure they would become a lot closer in the coming years. The talk was light and a lot of laughter filled the air.

After dinner they spent a few hours talking about wizarding homes in general. They also talked about government, politics and the school the children would be visiting.

"Who is this Dumbledore character anyways?" Emma asked after the name had fallen for what felt like the 10th time in five minutes.

"He is a wizard who gained quite a bit of popularity by the defeat and incarceration of a very evil wizard." John began. "Hero worship is big in the wizarding world, it will be something Harry will face when going to school. I am not happy about it, but I can't change it. They will worship him when he does the things they think he should do. Just as well as vilify him if he doesn't. There is just no way to win, he can only learn to be indifferent to the public opinion."

A little while latter, Harry had dragged Hermione off to the potions lab, John served coffee and assorted magical sweets for the Grangers to try. Dan then started the topic of their children.

"Hermione was very sad when she couldn't come over yesterday. But it was her who wanted to go shopping in the first place. That was strange, for the first time she wanted to buy clothes more than books. I think it has something with Harry."

Emma snorted. "Of course it has. Clothes shopping with her went like...'Mom do you think Harry would like this skirt?' or 'Does this blouse look good on me, do you think Harry will think so too?'."

Dan, for a moment, had to fight a bit of anger at the boy. He had to remind himself that they were only eleven at the moment. The lad wouldn't steal his little princesses heart for another 3 years at least, not as long as he was her father that is.

John had caught the look on his face however. "Relax Dan. As much as you don't want it to happen, Hermione is going to grow up one day."

Dan relaxed a bit and laughed. "Yeah, doesn't mean I have to like it though." They all laughed at that.

Harry and Hermione were watching a simmering cauldron while the adults chatted. They had added all the ingredients by now and waited for the color change to signify it was done. It was a simple potion they would brew over the year and was used to cure simple warts. Hermione had just told Harry she couldn't wait to brew a potion to tame her hair a bit.

"What is wrong with your hair?"

"Nothing, I would just like it a bit more slick and that it lays down for once." Hermione sighed.

"I think it's brilliant the way it is, but it's your hair." Harry flashed her a smile.

He yelped and removed the heat. Hermione watched him and smiled broadly. Harry quickly picked up his ladle and stirred the potion a quarter turn right and then three times left to counteract the overheating of the blue moss in the potion. He was relieved to see the potion return to the correct color. He turned to find Hermione smiling brightly at him. She kissed his cheek.

"Thanks Harry."

Harry smiled at the kiss. "Whatever for?"

"For being the best friend I've ever had." She hugged him and he hugged her back.

They filled two vials with the potion and each took one. Then they went to rejoin the adults. When asked what they had been up to, they showed the parents their potion vials.

"This actually works?" Dan asked.

"Anything unusual about that potion, Harry?" John asked.

"I only added diced blue moss to it. Right after the first simmer."

John nodded. "Yes Dan it's safe to use and quite potent if I'm right."

The father looked at his daughter and asked her if he could try it out. Hermione nodded in return.

"I have a wart on my right foot. It has been there forever. Ice, surgery and even acupuncture, I have tried everything on it. Every time it has grown right back. If this works I owe you one." He looked right at Harry as he said the last part.

Dan removed his shoe and sock, while John got a dropper from one of the drawers in the potions lab. The dentist filled the dropper with potions and let one drop fall on the wart. He then watched in amazement as the wart shrunk till it was gone.

"Amazing, we will keep this around in our medicine cabinet. Can you brew things like this at home, darling?" Dan asked his daughter.

"It will be easier if I can come here to use the potions lab."

John smiled. "When ever you want Hermione, anytime." The girl in question flashed him a thousand watt smile and Harry grinned along.

Before long the Grangers had to leave and John together with Harry decided to turn in for the night.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur. Harry and Hermione phoned each other daily and more often than not met up. They visit the playgrounds in both their neighborhoods, brew potions and learn spells. Hermione and Harry would play boardgames or read together when it would rain. Harry also introduced her to magical games, like wizarding chess and exploding snap.

John kept on studying the horcruxes, but sadly learned nothing more from the book horcrux. It was a diary that had obviously once belonged to Riddle himself. The soul piece in the book had been there longer than the one in the cup by at least a year. It had definitely deteriorated further than the cup horcrux and it seemed to go faster as time dragged on. All in all, Voldemort had about a hundred years till the horcruxes would have failed and released the pieces they contained. So much for immortality. With the single piece he had left in his body, the evil wizard would have been unable to make new horcruxes.

* * *

It was just over a week after their dinner when an owl arrived during breakfast. John recognized the stationary as the one from Ollivanders wandshop. It said that finally the staff had been completed, and asked that they come in at their earliest convenience. Harry was giddy all the way to the wandmaker. When they entered they found Ollivander waiting on them.

"Welcome Messrs Potter, please follow me."

He led them into the backroom where his workspace was. On his workbench lay the most beautifully crafted staff. It was just over six feet, a bit long for Harry, but he still had a lot of growing to do. It was hard to see where the blackthorn ended and the holly began. A stylized skull topped the magical focus.

Ollivander indicated the staff. "My masterpiece. Never have I crafted anything as beautiful as this. I have engraved over seventy runes on it. Most for durability and protection. It wouldn't do to have it break on you. There is also this." Ollivander opened the small box next to the staff. In it was a beautiful wand, made from intertwined pieces of holly and blackthorn.

"They are beautiful Mr Ollivander. Both of them." Harry was a bit breathless.

"Yes they are. Sadly I can not take credit for the wand. You see after I had finished the staff...It grew out where one wood met the other. I did some carving and engraving on it, but have been unable to check the core. The cores of your staff seemed to somemhow have grown into it however. Would you please pick up the staff first. Do be careful however, I have no interest in reconstructing my shop."

Harry went to pick up the staff and gasped as his hand came in contact with the wood. Magical sparks filled the entire room and Harry felt energy vibrate down his arm into the staff. He lifted the staff up and off the bench. Holding it up he cast 'lumos' and the entire room was bathed in multicolored lights that were so bright, they hurt the eyes through the eyelids.

After a second Harry cast 'nox' to shutdown the light and it took them a half minute of blinking to regain their vision.

John grinned as he told Harry. "You have to work on that. We will concentrate on toning your power down quite a bit."

Mr Ollivander stood in the corner and stared with his mouth open. Harry looked at him and then back at his dad. "I think I broke him." This set of John, who started laughing and then Harry joined in. I took a moment for Ollivander to come around, but finally he managed.

"Do try the wand Mr Potter." The wandmaker sounded like he had a very dry throat all of the sudden.

Harry picked up the wand and the resulting light show was quite a bit smaller than before, but still spectacular. He tried the same spell. The light that came from his wand, had the intensity of a searchlight. Before Harry could end the spell, John told him to tone his power down. When the light was as intense as a bright flashlight, they were satisfied for now.

"Don't use more power than that, when casting day to day." Harry nodded at that and once again they saw Ollivander stare at them in shock.

"If the dark lord choose to attack you today, I would almost pity the poor bastard. He wouldn't know what he is up against."

They ended up paying a thousand galleons for Harrys staff and wand. A small fortune for some, but it didn't even dent the Potter vault.

After they had returned home, Harry brought his staff up to his room. His wand was in his forearm holster. He went downstairs and phoned Hermione to tell her he had gotten his wand. Somehow during their talk they got on the topics of birthdays.

"When is your birthday Harry?"

"July 31st, when is yours?"

"September 19th, I'm going to be twelve this year."

"I turned eleven this year. It's good to know, when your birthday is, that way I can pick up your present before we go to Hogwarts."

"Oh, Harry you don't have to buy me anything."

"I might not, but I want to."

He could practically hear her smile after that. They agreed to meet up after lunch and that Harry would teleport over to an abandoned phone booth by her house. The had previously found the booth on one of their strolls around the block and John had warded it for Harry.

After he had hung up, a raven fluttered through their window and had a small package bound to his leg. The raven felt strange and had none of the usually colors Harry usually 'saw' around living things.

"Dad!" The lad called.

John came from the living room and held a book in his hand. He looked at the raven and was fascinated.

"Dead." Harry looked at him weirdly. "That raven is dead."

"But it flies and breathes and...stuff."

John laughed. "Yes it is animated, but the tissue is dead. Not a spark of live in that one." He went to retrieve the package. The raven jumped, flapped his wings and landed in front of Harry. "It seems to be your delivery."

Harry untied the string with shaking hands. The raven left as soon as its burden was untied. Harry unwrapped it and out fell a small stone, it was the size of a large pebble. There was a symbol etched on its surface, it looked very much like a triangle, with a circle in it and a vertical line that ran through it.

"It's a stone. With a doodle on it."

John smiled. "And it was delivered by a dead raven. Quite a bit of effort for just a stone."

Harry handed the stone to his guardian and watched him flinch. "What?"

John shuddered. "There is powerful magic woven into this stone. It's inert at the moment and it's quite unlike anything I have felt before. That's probably the reason you didn't feel it." He studied the symbol on the stone. "There is some information on this symbol, but it is hidden. That is interesting. I will have to meditate on this."

After lunch, Harry teleported to Hermione. John went to the living room. He placed a cushion on the floor and sat down cross legged. After emptying his mind, he fell into a trance and tried to find something on the symbol. He found a name and the title of a book. The name was Xenophilius Lovegood and he had to read the Tales of Beetle the Bard. He went up to Harrys room and quickly found the book. Back in the living room, he made himself comfortable and began to read.


	4. Madness, a bunny and Pudding

A/N: After a difficult start, this chapter got done faster than anticipated.

At almost 200 followers, I slowly get nervous about updating. That are a lot of people judging your stuff.

Still I am very happy about how this turned out and to have all of you following and placing this in your favorites. Thank you.

Also a big thank you to my reviewers, you guys keep my spirits up.

If you like this story, maybe you like my other story ' **A Different Shade of Potter** ' as well. I will work on that, whenever I pause here for a while.

 **I am looking for a beta reader. If you would like to** **be my beta** **, please send me a PM. Thanks.**

Now on with the story...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

After reading all of the tales of Beedle the Bard, John borrowed Harry's owl, Hedwig. He sent a letter to Xenophilius Lovegood to arrange a meeting.

He received the answer during breakfast the next morning. It was written in pink crayon on a cream colored napkin. John tried, and failed, to ignore the food stains on it. The message was short and confusing. It read 'Come by whenever you feel like it' and was signed XL. He knew the man lived in a house, that was close to Ottery St Catchpole in Devon. He would visit there later in the day, while Harry would be at the Granger house.

After breakfast, John got a little more work done on the horcruxes. He was still amazed at how much the diary horcrux had deteriorated. By his calculations it would be close to 50 years old, meaning it had reached the halfway point. In another 50 years this horcrux would fail. The cup had, by comparison, about 10-15 years longer to last.

Harry in the meantime, worked the entire morning on keeping his power output low. He used his wand to cast first year spells. Dampening his power, he lowered it until the effects were what you would expect from a first year student.

They ate lunch together and Harry was in a good mood. He would teleport over to Hermione and they would spend the afternoon together.

After lunch, Harry had already gone, John teleported to Ottery St Catchpole. He tried to find the Lovegood home, but found it was incredibly hard to focus on it. He wandered a bit outside of the town and saw what could only be home to a magical family. It looked to have all sorts of extras patched on, while none seemed to fit it correctly.

John went to knock on the door and a portly, redheaded woman opened him. "Yes?"

"Excuse me, I am looking for Xenophilius Lovegood. Would you know where he lives?"

She smiled at him. "Of course, the Lovegoods live at the other end of this trail." She pointed to a small path that led away from the house into what looked like a small forest.

John thanked her and followed the path. He arrived about 20 minutes later. His first impression of the Lovegood home was baffling. It was a rook, a giant chess rook. Shaking his head a little, he knocked on the door. A young girl with long blonde hair opened the door.

"Yes?" Her voice was dreamy and her eyes seemed to look through him for a moment.

"I want to speak with Xenophilius Lovegood. In his...letter?, he asked me to come by."

"Who are you?"

"I am John Potter."

"You are almost John Potter, but who are you."

John decided that maybe honesty would be best. "I don't know."

She looked at him with big gray eyes for a moment. "Will you tell me when you remember?"

"I will."

She smiled at him and opened the door wide. "Come in, my daddy is in his office right now."

John followed the girl inside the house. She knocked on a door and opened it. Behind it, a man with technicolor robes sat at a desk.

"Honey, why is there a man behind you?"

She smiled at her father. "You sent him a letter Daddy, so he came by."

John went into the small room. "Mr Lovegood, I am John Potter, we have an...appointment?"

Xenophilius looked at him for a moment, then his attention slipped back to his daughter.

"Luna Dear, have you seen that squirrel?"

"No Daddy."

"Well it was my left hand a moment ago, it probably ran off."

Luna sighed. It sounded far to old for a girl so young. "Daddy, did you use my puppets for gloves again?"

Mr Lovegood frowned. "I'm not sure, but I seem to remember, that my right hand was a giraffe some time ago."

Luna went to her fathers desk and opened the topmost drawer. She took two hand puppets from it, a squirrel and a giraffe. "There they are Daddy. I will take care of them. You enjoy our chat with Mr Potter."

"Of course." Xenophilius turned to John. "That will teach them!"

John slowly grew aggravated, which was not something he was accustomed to. It was hard for him to take the man serious. He looked at the man and at his emotions. Specks of yellow riddled a black center and a gray haze hung over it all. It was like he was trying to be happy, but he was grieving to much. The haze indicating madness, was not something that surprised John.

"Mr Lovegood, I came to ask you about this symbol." He drew it on a piece of paper he found. "And the meaning behind it." He lifted the paper up to Mr Lovegood's eyes.

It was like watching two zeppelins of cognition crash in the air and fall down to earth. The haze lifted some.

"Where did you find this symbol?" His voice lost a lot of its forlorn quality.

"It is etched on a stone my son received. It was brought by a dead raven."

The mother ship that was Xenophilius Lovegoods mind, turned of its engines and came tumbling back to earth. The haze was gone and his center turned completely blue. The man went from being mad with grief, to focused and calm in under 1 second.

"A stone and by a dead raven you say!?"

"Yes, would you know something about this?" John watched in amazement at the changes happening in Mr Lovegood.

"Yes of course, have you heard the tale of the three brothers?"

John nodded. "Just yesterday, yes. I found no reference to this symbol in it."

Xenophilius shook his head. "No, of course not, but it's the basis for all of it."

He launched into the tale and explained to John that the items described in the story, coresponded to real items that still exist. He showed John all the notes he had taken on the hallows, as he called them. A cloak and a wand, but last he showed him...

"The resurrection stone. It fits the description of what your son received. No one knows how to use it and maybe it's for the best. Remember the brother that used it? He committed suicide." John saw black seep into the man again, turning his center a darker blue.

"OK, but what about that raven?"

Mr Lovegood looked at him and the blue turned a bit lighter again. "The raven, according to some lore I have found, is a servant to Death. A messenger of sorts. People have reported seeing him and they either died or had someone close to them die. The lore of these ravens is around even longer than the hallows."

John leaned forward and looked the man straight into the eye. "And who did YOU loose Mr Lovegood?"

Immediately his core turned black again, but the haze of madness was not yet around him. The outermost edge turned a dark, desaturated green. Xenophilius collapsed on his desk, his head resting on his arms. He wept, hard and made no sign of stopping any time soon. Luna heard her father cry and entered the office.

"Daddy, what happened?" She turned her eyes on John and they grew hard. "What have you done to him!?"

John held up his hand to stop her. He looked at her as well. The center of her was black, the middle part was the same green her father experienced at the moment and the outer edge was flaming red right now. He turned his eyes to her defiant stare.

"You tell me then, who did you loose?"

Luna's eyes teared up and she started crying while she spoke. "My Mommy died, her spell collapsed and killed her!" There was a considerable amount of venom in her voice, for a girl so young. Her father just cried harder. "And now look at what you have done to my father!"

John looked at the young girl, his eyes soft and compassionate. "Luna your father is grieving so hard, he drove himself mad with it. He needs to feel the pain, so he can properly grieve for your mother. When did this happen?"

Luna was crying harder now. "Nine months ago, last December."

John had sympathy for her. "How old are you?"

"Ten."

Shaking his head, John thought about her having to be the adult at home. Her father driven mad with grief and sorrow. Luna probably never had time to properly grieve herself. He waited for a while outside the office, while father and daughter grieved for the loved one they had lost.

When they came out again, John looked at Luna.

"What have you eaten for breakfast?"

"Pudding."

He frowned. "And for lunch?"

"Pudding." Luna gave him a look that said 'Where are you going with this, what's wrong with pudding?'.

John looked at Mr Lovegood. "Do you have friends, where you would be welcome for a while?"

"Well there are the Weasleys..." But he stopped as Luna viciously shook her head. "What is it Luna? You always liked to play with Ginevra."

"No, Ron is mean to me and Ginevra doesn't like me anymore since...the accident."

"Then I'm afraid, we have nowhere to go." He looked at his daughter.

John looked at him again. The haze around him was not gone, but it was held at bay for now. It would take a long time for him to get truly sane again...if he ever was to begin with.

"Is there really no one? No family, no relatives? No friends?"

Both shook there heads solemnly. John sighed deeply. He didn't like it, but he couldn't leave them on their own.

"You can come with me and stay at our home. It's not much, but there is enough space for all of us."

Xenophilius looked skeptical and wanted to decline, but to their surprise Luna nodded enthusiastically. "The nargels say, that I can trust you and that your son is nice."

John's eyes widened and he spoke a little more harshly than he intended to. "Where did you see a nargel?"

Luna flinched a bit and looked like she would start crying again. John took a deep breath and tried again.

"I'm sorry Luna, I didn't want to scare you. I can see them and was shocked that you would see them as well."

The girl looked wide eyed at him. "You can see them too?"

Hardly anyone had ever believed her, with the exception of her dad. But then again he was not...entirely there all the time. It was nice for a change.

"Yes and hear them. Harry can as well."

"I see them all the time, ever since Mommy..." Her voice lost its fervor and she teared up again.

Nargels were six dimensional creatures, barely even visible on this plane of existence. If one had access to all necessary six dimensions, they looked like giant floating squids. They were harmless and enjoyed the gossip from all planes. Here they looked like tiny fireflies. If you took your time to listen to them, they would tell you all kinds of interesting information.

John took the chance to look at her core, as he expected it to be cracked. He found it twisted and warped. It was turned in on itself and tendrils of it snaked out into all possible and impossible directions.

John had seen this before in seers, but they had natural openings in their tendrils, so the future and the past could flow through them. Luna's core was self contained and had not even one crack in its surface. Considering the emotional stress the girl had lived through in the past six month, it was a wonder. It probably had something to do with the spell that had failed.

"Luna, I am sorry I have to ask this, but were you in the same room as your mother when she died?" John felt like shit, but he had to know.

Luna started crying again, but nodded.

After her cleansing cry, the Lovegoods agreed to his plan. "If my daughter trusts you, you have to be a good person."

John told them to pack some things and that he would return in the evening to get them. He teleported away to his home and found Hermione and Harry in the living room. They had been reading. The children greeted him.

"Harry, we will be getting visitors." John told his son. "They will stay here for a while."

"How long?" Harry asked curiously.

"Until they are better. Xenophilius has lost his wife and Luna her mother. They are grieving very hard and he can barely take care of her. Luna and her father will come stay with us. She is about your age and I had hoped you could include her in your activities." He looked at both Hermione and Harry.

Hermione would never admit to it, but she felt a bit jealous at having another girl to share Harry's friendship with.

Harry shrugged. "We will see, I don't know her yet."

John chuckled. "I have a feeling you will both like her." This was something Hermione doubted. "Harry, she has seen nargels and she has spoken to them."

Harry's eyes widened. "Is she like us?"

"No, I checked that." John looked pensive. "But she is special."

Harry smiled and Hermione felt another pang of jealousy.

"You will meet her later and can get to know her over dinner." John looked at Hermione. "Will you stay for dinner Hermione?"

The girl shook her head and forced a smile. "No, I think I will head home now. Harry will you teleport me over?"

Harry frowned, as it was still well before Hermione had to be home, but nodded. He disappeared with her. John was left alone frowning. He felt like he had thrown a wrench into their friendship. Hermione, before she had left, had taken on the ugly green of jealousy.

When Harry returned, he was looking kind of down. John sussed that it was because of Hermione, but that was his mistake. He had suspected she had a crush on Harry and now had invited another girl to live with them. John sighed deeply, he found himself doing that often as of late. He would have an eye on the situation and see if Hermione retreated even further. If that happened he could still talk to the children, they were mature enough for this.

Harry for his part was confused at the almost cold way Hermione had said goodbye to him. He had asked her, if he should accompany her to her house, but she said no. No hugs, no kisses, she just waved at him and walked quickly to her house. Harry didn't exactly know why, but it left him feeling empty inside. It was as if she had taken a part of him with her. Now that was a strange feeling, if he had ever felt one.

Once he had returned, he tried to bury himself in his books. Reading, he found, had become incredibly hard, one more thing he was unaccustomed to. He switched the television on and found nothing to watch. The thought about the Back to the Future movies, didn't fill him with the usual happy anticipation. It, for the first time, filled him with dread. He did not want to see Marty and Jennifer, or Gorge and Lorraine, the thought of them made him sad. He just couldn't understand what kind of problem could not be solved with Back to the Future.

John watched Harry and knew why he was aggravated, but could not help him for now.

Before long it was time to pick up the Lovegoods. John teleported right to their home and they waited on the porch. He chanced another look at Xenophilius, the dancing yellow specs were back in his black core and once more madness had descended on him. It wasn't as severe as this afternoon, but definitely back. The haze on him was about half as strong as before.

Luna stood there and had once more assumed the role of an adult. She helped her father blow his nose, as John made his presence known. Looking at him, while he looked at her father, she gasped.

"How do you do it?"

John was confused for a moment. "Do what?"

Luna gave him a bright smile. He noticed her center was still black, of course, but the outside had taken on a lighter hue and her edge glowed yellow.

"That, how do you make your eyes glow?" She laughed a little. "It tickles too."

He stared at her in wonder, asking himself just how perceptive the girl was. "I don't."

She cocked her head to one side. "Strangely enough, that's the truth." He had been right, she could tell when people lied to her.

"Are you ready? We can come back for anything you need at anytime."

Luna nodded and Xenophilius added his own form of agreeing. "I hope we have strong wind in our sails, aye"

Not blinking an eye at the strange mans antics, John took their hands and teleported them over to their home. Harry came over from the living room to greet their guests. He shook hands with Mr. Lovegood and his 'pleased to meet you' was met by a 'space pirates are everywhere' in a low whisper.

While John led the man to their new rooms on the first floor. Luna and Harry got to greet eachother.

"Hello, I'm Harry. Dad told me that you can see nargels?"

Her large eyes undivided attention landed on him. "Hello, I'm Luna. Yes I can see nargels, they are my best friends. We often speak for a long time."

Harry was shocked at nargels being the girls best friends. "Don't you have any other friends?" He asked her frowning.

"No." Her voice had turned sad.

Harry frowned again. "But why? You seem nice."

She gave him a very sad smile. "Because I'm different. No one wants to be around me anymore."

Harry gave her a reassuring smile. "Different is no problem here. I will introduce you to my friend Hermione tomorrow. She is my friend and I am different. I can't think of any reason, why she wouldn't like you. I would like to be your friend however."

Luna smiled and a few tears spilled over her cheeks. Harry thought he had made her cry and was panicking. Luna felt his uneasiness and decided to help him out.

"It's OK, Harry. I am happy, that is all." She smiled at him again and cried mixed tears for a few minutes.

After happiness had won over sadness, Harry led Luna up to show her the room, they had set aside for her. After asking her for colors, he placed his hands on the wall and the carpet. He turned them pink and purple and Luna clapped her hands in delight. She copied him and was disappointed when nothing happened. Harry told her that wandless magic probably was not one of her abilities.

Harry then showed her his room and Luna fell in love with the plush bunny. Harry was at first not happy, it was his bunny after all. He then remembered that Luna had recently lost her mother and realized she probably needed the comfort from the stuffed animal more than him. When she tried to give the plush toy back, he held it out to her again.

"We can share it and you need it more than I right now."

Luna squealed in delight and more tears of happiness escaped her. She then hugged Harry. It was to this scene the two fathers walked in. Xeno (he had asked John to call him that) happily examined the wallpaper. John walked away again, muttering under his breath about young wizards having a way with the witches and breaking hearts left, right and center.

They had an early dinner that night and decided to turn in early as well.

Harry had trouble falling asleep, as his thoughts returned to Hermione. He resolved to talk with her again tomorrow. Getting up, he went over to Luna's door. He looked in and found her sleeping peacefully. That she held the plush bunny in her arms, made him sure it had been the right decision. Harry returned to his bed and finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

They next morning broke bright and early. Harry awoke to find Luna staring at him, from where she was perched on the side of his bed.

"Aaaargh!...Oh Luna it's you."

Harry tried to calm his racing heart. He could hear movement in the other rooms. John came in first in his pajama bottoms. Two seconds later Xeno fell through the door, he wore a night shirt and his underwear on his head.

"Everything alright Dad. Luna just startled me." John let the magic he had collected on his hands fizz out and took a deep breath.

Luna sighed as she spied her father. "Come Daddy, I will help you get dressed."

John stopped her. "I will help your father Luna. You go downstairs with Harry. Have breakfast and watch some cartoons."

John shuffled Xeno out of the room and Luna turned to Harry. "Why should we watch cartons, might they run off?"

Harry chuckled as he got out of bed. "I'll show you."

So Harry introduced Luna to breakfast cereal (Not as good as pudding!) and the wonder that was television. It took a while for her to grasp the concept, that the people in the moving picture could not hear her. After ten minutes of shouting at the TV, she finally accepted the fact.

It was half an hour later, that Xeno and John made their way downstairs. Luna saw that her father had been crying again, but he was also much more collected. John made breakfast for Xeno and himself. They sat in the kitchen and John showed the stone to the man.

"I can feel a lot of passive magic in this stone." John told him.

Xeno tried to lift the stone of the table and failed. "I can't lift it. It's like it's stuck to the table."

John reached out his hand and easily lifted the stone. Thinking for a moment, he called Harry and Luna to the kitchen. He asked the children to lift the stone of the table and while Harry could, Luna could barely lift it of the table top. It seemed to be weighed down, by the grief the one trying to lift it felt.

Xeno frowned. "I can't remember reading about this, anywhere."

John was deep in thought. "It probably has been brought to Harry for a reason. I would not be wondering, if more of these 'coincidences' happen around here." Had he only known how right he would be.

A little later Harry called Hermione.

"Hello Hermione, it's Harry."

"Hello Harry, how are you?"

Harry smiled, everything seemed to be back to normal. "I'm fine. Everything is perfect. How about you?"

"Fine as well. Has your guest made herself at home yet?"

"John has made them guest rooms yesterday. I think they are a lot happier, now that they are no longer alone." Harry frowned.

Hermione had sounded a bit strained and kind of muffled. He waited for her to say something and, after nothing came forth, continued.

"Do you want to come over later? Then you can meet the Lovegoods yourself." Once again Harry thought she wasn't going to answer.

"Fine...see you later. I'll be over after lunch." Hermione's deadened voice told him. Not waiting for goodbyes she hung up.

Harry reentered the kitchen, were Xeno had once more broken down crying. Luna sat beside him and was weeping as well. John noticed the expression on Harry's face.

"Something the matter Harry?" He asked the boy quietly, as to not disturb the grieving people in the room.

"It's Hermione, since I have taken her home yesterday, she has been behaving strangely. It's almost as if she is mad at me. I don't know what I might have done." Harry now looked close to crying himself.

John placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I don't think you have done something wrong. Will she come over?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, but she didn't seem happy about it."

"Maybe it's something else, that has nothing to do with you."

The boy shrugged and went to get ready for the day. After he had showered and dressed, he came by Luna's room. Hearing her sniffling inside, he knocked on her door.

"Luna is everything OK?"

"You can come in Harry."

He opened the door and looked inside. Luna lay on her bed and stroked the plush bunny absentmindedly. Harry went over to her and sat on the side of her bed.

"You miss her a lot, don't you?"

Luna nodded and cried harder. She latched onto Harry and he hugged her. Letting her cry on his shoulder.

After she had calmed down a little, she asked him if he missed his parents.

"Not really, I haven't gotten to know them. I don't know what to miss. I lived with my aunt for a while, but they were horrible to me. Then John found me and took me in. Since then I have been happier, than I had ever been before. John is my uncle, but to me he is my father. There was never something, I couldn't talk to him about."

Luna gave him a watery smile. "That's nice, I had that with my Mommy. That's why I miss her so much. Daddy is great, but since the accident...he hasn't been the same. He was always...outlandish, but it has gotten worse, a lot worse."

Harry smiled at her. "Then it's good, you now live with us. If you need someone to talk to, try John. You would be surprised, what he can sometimes help me with."

Luna looked solemnly at him. "I will. I am happy, we're staying with you now. I think it helps my Daddy. It is hard for me, to see him cry so often." She sighed deeply. "But it helps him."

Meanwhile, John was talking to Xeno in the Kitchen. The man had just recovered from another cry. John saw the haze on him lift and return through out the day. Every time it lifted he would cry for a while, then the madness was held at bay for a few hours.

"Xeno, why don't you send Luna to Hogwarts this year. She is more than mature enough to go and the magic part shouldn't be the problem either. I think it's hard on her to see you break down ever so often."

"Do you think, that I am a bad father?" Xeno's eyes were bloodshot. He looked at him and John couldn't help but pity the man.

"No, but I think you could be a better father for her, if you get over your grief first."

Xeno looked down at his hands. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it would be for the best if she went." He sighed deeply. "I will ask her about it. If she wants to go. I would hate to force this on her."

John made a decision. "I will pull a few strings in the background, so she has a spot if she wants to go."

Xeno looked at him. "We know you since yesterday, why do you do all of this for us?"

John sighed. "You are good people. I couldn't leave you like that. Luna deserves the opportunity to be a child. You both deserve to be happy again."

The other man smiled at him. "John Potter, you have to most annoying talent to get people to trust and like you."

John actually laughed at that and Xeno joined in. It soon turned into another fit of crying, like most emotional spikes ended for him these days.

John prepared lunch for all of them and Xeno showed him how to make Luna's favorite pudding. The children joined them and they chatted lightly over lunch. Harry and John agreed that Luna's pudding, was the single most delicious dessert they had ever eaten. The flavor was nothing easily described, it has so many layers. After the bowl had been licked clean, they were all stuffed.

Harry and Luna had gone to the living room, to read until Hermione would arrive. John had gone to write several letters. Xeno had retired to his room for a quick nap.

It was an hour later that the door bell rang. Harry got up and opened the door.

"Hermione!" Harry enthusiastically greeted her. He opened his arms for a hug, but Hermione had already moved past him. Confused and more that a little hurt, Harry lowered his arms. He led the other girl to the living room.

Hermione saw the other girl sit on her favored reading spot. She was blonde, of course, and had beautiful hip length straight hair, as if blonde wasn't bad enough.

"Hermione this is Luna, Luna this is my best friend Hermione."

The blonde leveled a smile at her and of course...her teeth had to be bloody perfect. She was still so preoccupied with being jealous, she didn't notice Harry introduce her as his best friend.

"Hello Hermione, Harry told me that you are an extremely good friend. I look forward to getting to know you." Luna said from where she sat cross legged on the couch.

Hermione was seething on the inside and but tried not to let it show. "A pleasure to meet you Luna, Harry told me nothing about you yet."

Harry frowned, he would have told her. She had hung up on him this morning.

Luna had no reservations. "Yesterday, my Daddy and I have come to live with Harry and John. We were not doing so well after...my mothers...accident." She held her tears back, not wanting to cry again. "But John offered for us to move in for now. Daddy is feeling much better now."

Hermione had a hard time not feeling sympathy for the girl. She wanted to be angry at her for barging into their friendship. Luna picked up the plush bunny from beside her and hugged it to her chest for comfort. Upon spying the plush toy in Luna's embrace, Hermione had no trouble anymore with turning her ire on her.

"Where did you get that? Isn't that Harry's bunny!?" She accused her angrily.

Luna shrunk back from her and nodded.

Hermione took a deep breath to berate the blonde. Before she could start however, Harry's voice cut across the room and right across her heart as well.

"Hermione, can I talk to you outside, please!" It was no question, Harry's eyes burned into hers angrily.

Looking back at Luna, Hermione saw that she had started crying and blanched a bit. She went out of the living room and Harry followed her. After closing the door, he turned his ire onto her.

"What exactly is wrong with you!? Ever since yesterday you behave strangely. Not at all like my friend. Now you try to lay into Luna for a plush toy? That I have given her for comfort! Luna could use another friend, not someone who tries to make her miserable."

He lowered his voice. "Her mother died. She has been crying basically non stop since yesterday. Her father has gone mad with grief!" His whisper was sharp.

"What she can't use right now, is someone who pulls her down. Maybe it's best if you head home now." His voice now sounded hurt and disappointed.

Hermione was close to tears, but didn't want to show. She felt incredibly stupid and chastised. While Harry might have a point, she had been hard on the other girl. Couldn't he see that she was jealous of her. Now she had achieved the exact opposite of what she wanted. Harry now drove her away and would become even closer to Luna.

Anger rose in Hermione, mostly at herself, but she projected it outwards. She didn't want to be wrong, she wanted to be in the right. Her anger shut down her reason.

"I will! I won't return once I'm gone!" She spun on her heels. "And don't bother. I'll get John to take me home."

Once Harry couldn't see her eyes anymore, Hermione let her tears fall. John just came down the stairs, he wanted to see what the commotion was about. He saw a crying Hermione walking away from a severely hurting Harry. She then begged him to take her home.

After John had teleported out with Hermione, Harry returned to the living room, still livid. Luna was still softly crying on the couch, holding the bunny like a life line. This view let his anger melt away. The blonde looked up as he entered. After getting up, she hugged him.

"Go after her Harry, she is your best friend. You only know me one day. I'll manage on my own."

Luna then put the stuffed animal in his hands and turned to leave. Harry's hand on her shoulder didn't let though.

"I though she was. Right now, I'm not sure what to think. I would have never thought her to react like that." Harry shook his head.

Luna turned back to him, she was still teary eyed. "Is it not obvious Harry, she thinks I am stealing her friend. You gave me your bunny." She stroked the plush. "You are important to her and she views me as a threat. Then you go ahead and give me something important to you."

Then Luna proved to have a vastly different viewpoint from most humans. "Get her to come over and we talk it out over a big bowl of pudding."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, he was still hurt and disappointed, but this intrigued him.

Luna gave him a soft, slightly otherworldly smile. "You can't be upset or angry with pudding."

Having to smile at that, Harry felt his anger leave. He gave the plush toy back to Luna and she kissed his cheek. It was nice, but different nice than Hermione's kisses. He watched her go to her room.

Harry had tried to read, tried to watch TV and, in the end, simply buried his face on the couch. Twenty minutes later he heard a soft but sudden footfall in the hall. He heard his Dad enter and waited.

"Harry?" John said. "We should talk about this."

Harry got out of the couch, realizing that hiding wouldn't solve anything. He sat and nodded.

"Can you tell me, why Hermione broke down at home and told me and her parents, basically...well she told us that she fucked it all up."

Harry gave a feeble smile and opened his mouth to reprimand his father for swearing.

"I don't think your cheek will help this situation." John was not in the mood for joking. He just had a long conversation with Dan and Emma. They knew that friends fought sometimes and that both would probably want to reconcile.

Harry closed his mouth and nodded. He gave John a full account. That he had already noticed Hermione's bad mood yesterday and that he had talked to her after she made Luna cry.

John sighed deeply. He knew this was his fault.

"I'm sorry Harry, I should have known. I will talk to Hermione tomorrow. She is a smart girl and probably has figured it out herself by now. Let's give it time till then and let the tempers boil down."

Harry nodded and hoped that John was right. He wanted to be friends with both Luna and Hermione, not decide between them.

The rest of the day, Harry didn't want to do anything. John and Luna tried to motivate him to play some games and even Back to the Future, once more held no promise of fun for him. At dinner not even the pudding, that was now mandatory with every meal, could put a smile on his face. He decided to turn in early, only to lay awake in his bed.

A bit of time later Luna entered his room. She walked over to him and slipped under his covers. Holding the bunny, she snuggled into him.

"That way we can share him tonight."

Harry had to chuckle slightly. "Him?"

Luna held up the plush. "Harry meet Robert the Valiant, protector of innocents and slayer of dragons. You can call him Bob, though."

Harry had to laugh at that. They both drew comfort from each other that night, and from Bob the Bunny, and slept well.

It was to that scene, John walked in when he checked up on Harry. He smiled and then walked to his room, once more muttering under his breath about certain young wizards having a way with the witches.

* * *

The next morning broke with a thunderstorm. The heavy and dark rainclouds, allowed the day to be only a little brighter than the night. Harry and Luna woke up cuddled up to each other. Both of them smiled and then reality visited Harry's mind. His face instantly fell, today was not something he looked forward to. He hated to deal with complex emotions, they made his insides feel funny.

He liked Luna's simple and straight forward manner. She never lied, even if the truth was uncomfortable. She had an exuberant amount of phantasy and could create elaborate worlds in her mind. It wasn't hard to tell, that sometimes she would take refuge in them. Had John not gotten the Lovegoods to stay, she might have never left them again. Deciding to live with nargels and blubbering humdingers, instead of other humans.

She was a girl that had simple needs and the strangest sense of fashion he had ever seen. She took after her father in that regard. She often wore jewelry that looked like it was made from vegetables and had a butter beer cap necklace. She had made them with her mother, so they held emotional value to her. She often wore colors together, Harry would have never considered to match. It suited her, though.

The got up and went down to breakfast. John had already prepared the pudding and was now frying eggs. He told Harry, that he would head to the Grangers right after breakfast. Since they had to work today and he wanted them to be present. Harry made him promise to call for him, if Hermione wanted to talk to him.

After Breakfast, John teleported to the warded phone booth. He made his way to the Granger's slowly, despite the pouring rain. The door was answered by Emma. They had talked about this yesterday. She led him to the living room, where Hermione sat on the couch. Rain pelted the windows and thunder was heard in the distance.

"Good morning Hermione. I think we should talk about yesterday."

John looked at her, she looked like she had been crying forever and then some. Hermione nodded.

"Can you tell me what happened between you, Luna and Harry?"

"I got angry, because I thought Luna would take Harry away from me. I thought with her there, he wouldn't want me anymore. I got angry, and then she had his bunny..." Hermione started crying again.

John and the Granger's waited for a bit until she had calmed down.

"Now, I'm sure Harry hates me. He hates bullies, I made Luna cry and now he hates me as well!"

John smiled at her. "That is not true. Because of your fight yesterday, Harry was barely functioning. All three of us tried to cheer him up and failed, yes Luna as well." He answered her unasked question. "And If I call him now, he will not even take 20 seconds to appear at your door."

Hermione looked up with hope in her eyes. "You think so."

John smiled at her. "I know." He frowned for a second. "Count the seconds."

On the count of 19, the doorbell rang. Emma opened and led Harry in. He had run so fast, he wasn't even properly wet from the rain outside. The children forgot their fight, ran at each other and embraced.

"I am so sorry Harry, I was so afraid, please forgive me...please." Hermione had started crying again.

Harry held her at arms length and looked into her eyes. "You have to apologize to Luna. As far as I am concerned there is nothing to forgive." He smiled at the crying girl and got a watery smile in return.

"I will Harry. I was so afraid of loosing my friend, I never thought of gaining another. I hope she will forgive me as easily."

John made his presence known. "As long as you are sincere, Luna will forgive you. She can tell if someone is lying to her, however."

Hermione nodded, glad she had a second chance at this. She had promised herself, that she'd never be jealous again, at least not about Luna. Looking back at Harry, she asked the most important question to her. "Are we still best friends?"

The adults chuckled silently, but Harry answered her with a brilliant smile. "The very best."

Dan, who had been silent the entire time, thought it was his time to say something.

"Honey, do you want to go over to Harry's place today. It's best to apologize as soon as possible."

Hermione nodded and John had another idea. "You can come over with us right now. And you can stay for lunch and dinner if you want."

The Granger's were happy about that, they did not like to leave their daughter alone during the day. Best if she could stay with a friend.

The adults said their goodbyes and John invited them for dinner as well, so they could meet the Lovegoods. They agreed and John together with the children, made their way to the phone booth.

Finally the rain had stopped.

On arrival in the Potter home, Harry introduced Hermione to Xeno first 'Don't try dentistry on an angry dragon!' and then Luna proper. Hermione apologized profusely and Luna knew she was honest in her apology. She hugged the older girl, which caused Hermione to cry again. It made the older girl sad, that she had tried to drive such a nice person away.

Luna placed Bob the Bunny in Hermione's arms. "We can share him, all three of us, whenever one of us is sad."

Hermione cried even harder at that and pulled Luna in a tight hug again. Harry didn't want to be left out and hugged the hugging girls.

It didn't need to spoken, but they would be each others best friend from now on. John and Xeno looked on from the doorway and both men had tears in their eyes.

They had a big dinner that night, with all of the parents. The Granger's were happy as well for the children, even though they gave Xeno a strange look or two.

* * *

From this point forward the duo became a trio. They would brew potions together and practice spells, where Luna got to borrow Hermione's wand. The children would go play outside and, if the weather was bad, stay inside and read their books. Hermione found out that, while Luna was a simpler, freer spirit than herself, she was no less intelligent. John made a second room next to Luna's and it was deemed Hermione's room. Here she would stay, when the kids had a sleep over.

John helped Xeno print his newspaper and became the editor of the quibbler. They would both write articles and John edited. Xeno made the layout and printed. The simple act of doing this helped him along once more, even if John had to reject some of his more outlandish articles. Xeno told him about his interest in Magizoology and that Luna liked to go with him. John told him that if Luna could go to Hogwarts with Harry and Hermione, they could plan expeditions for the summer holidays.

* * *

Finally it was two days before the train to Hogwarts left. All three of the children were down. They didn't like the thought of going to Hogwarts and leaving Luna alone at home. The girl in question, tried to put on a brave face, but failed. They were poking their spoons in their pudding, without appetite for the delicious dessert.

Unable to look at the depressed faces any longer, John softly kicked Xeno in the shin under the table. The man looked up from his pudding and spoke up.

"I think an invisible dog just crept by me." He saw John give him a long and exasperated look. "Oh, right!"

Xeno sprang from the table and jumped up the stairs. The children looked at each other and then at John in confusion. He just gave them a smile and waited until Xeno came back down again.

Luna's father started. "Moonbeam, we had thought of giving this to you tomorrow, but..." He trailed off.

John decided to pick up. "But since you all look like rain on a sunny day, we decided to advance that plan a little."

Xeno took a small box out of his pocket and asked John to enlarge it. I turned out to be a Hogwarts trunk.

Luna looked on in shock. "This is my trunk?"

John nodded. "Yes and you can join Harry and Hermione and go this year."

Luna started crying, everyone was worried for a moment, until they saw the wide smile on her face. She was crying tears of joy. Hermione and Harry hugged and congratulated her. After the emotions had run down, the children attacked the pudding and completely demolished it.

They went and bought Luna's wand the next day.

* * *

On the evening before the children would leave, John invited the Granger's over to stay the night. He rented a van so they could make their way to the Station together. Xeno, John and the Granger's had shared many dinners by now and had become good friends.

As they turned in, all of the parents thought of how silent the house would be. They would miss the children.

The children themselves were far to exited, to think about sleep. Bob the Bunny had been packed into Luna's trunk. Harry and Luna decided to visit Hermione's room and together they all fell asleep on her bed.


	5. A Train, A Hat and Lessons to Learn

A/N: This chapter took a lot longer to write, than I had anticipated. I completely rewrote the first half, because I didn't like the way it had turned out.

Please leave me reviews on things you like and things you don't. Thanks to all of you, who have done so far.

 **I am also still looking for a beta reader. Anyone interested please leave me a message.**

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

The next morning broke quiet and early for the occupants of the Potter House. They all settled down in the kitchen, where John prepared a small breakfast for them. (Aww...no pudding!?)

The meal was a quiet affair, until a steady tock-tock-tock from the kitchen got everyone's attention. At the window, there was a raven, using his beak to knock.

"Not you again." John moaned and received curious glances from everyone but Harry and Xeno.

It was impossible to tell, if this was the same raven that had delivered the stone or maybe just another specimen of the same dead species. John opened the window and the raven fluttered in. After dumping his package in Harry's lap, he dissolved into thin air.

Harry read the small tag, that was affixed to the package. ' _Once a Peverell's, still a Potter's. Consider your gift returned.'_ The writing was neat but somewhat lifeless. Almost as if it had been written by a machine.

Tearing the wrapping paper, Harry found a shimmering fabric underneath. John and Xeno simultaneously breathed the same two words. "Invisibility cloak." The former regained his wits a bit faster.

"You should take it with you and keep it close by." John advised.

Harry nodded and placed the cloak in a specially charmed book bag. The all had received one, a special gift from all the parents. Dan and Emma had gone and bought the most fashionable book bags they could find for them. John and Xeno then had placed multiple enchantments on them. They had space expansion and feather light charms worked into them and John had added a few runes to them, to make them extra durable. Xeno then went over and added a few more enhancements, like lighting inside and a few smaller compartments for organisation.

After breakfast they loaded their luggage into the boot of the rented van. As they had three large trunks and an owl cage, they were happy that John had thought ahead and got a bigger vehicle for the day.

The drive to London was very quiet, the adults occasionally spoke up, but the children were too nervous to chat much. As they pulled into the stations parking lot, they were an hour early, which none of them minded. They unloaded their trunks, bags and cage onto one of the waiting luggage trolleys.

Even Xeno had opted for muggle clothing. He wore tie-dye pants and shirt he had picked up at a second hand store, that were no less colorful than his usual attire. John had gone with a tailored suit. On their own, none of the two would have attracted any kind of attention. The fact that the aged hippy and the business man chatted amicably with the other, struck the surrounding people as odd.

As they reached the divider between platforms nine and ten, Dan and Emma thought they had to say their goodbyes now. To their surprise John held out his hands.

"I will take you through the barrier."

Dan sounded incredulous. "That's possible?"

"Most wizards would not take you through, but then again I'm not most wizards." John laughed.

Emma was angered. "That McGonagal woman. She told us that crossing the barrier was completely impossible for us."

They clasped hands with John and closed their eyes. After a jerking feeling in their stomachs, they opened their eyes again and came face to face with the red steam engine of the Hogwarts Express. The children quickly followed them and Xeno brought up the rear.

In the last segment of the train, close to the toilets, they found a nice empty compartment. The adults helped them place their luggage into the compartment. As they still had half an hour of time, they took their time to say goodbye to their parents.

A few minutes before the train would depart, the adults had a few more presents to give.

John pulled out three small sacks of gold and handed one to each. "So you can buy a few snacks and treats on the train." All three of them hugged him.

Dan and Emma gave all of them toothbrushes and toothpaste. "So your mouth stays healthy, some of these wizards barely have any teeth left." This earned them a round of hugs.

Xeno got to go last. He took a big plastic container from his enchanted bag. Pudding! "Here for your enjoyment, but watch out for..." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "...space pirates." He smiled as the three children hugged him as well.

The train whistle cut through the air and Harry, Hermione and Luna mounted the train. They went to the window and waved goodbye. Hermione, Emma and Luna were teary eyed, while the men tried to put up a brave front. They ended up wiping at the dust, that misteriously got blown in their eyes all the time. The trio waved until they could no longer see the platform. Once they had settled inside their seats, they each pulled out a book from their bags.

They had been reading for almost an hour, when the door to their compartment opened. A nervous looking boy stood inside it.

"I-I have lost m-my toad, have...have you seen him? His name is T-Trevor."

Hermione answered him. "No sorry, we haven't seen a toad, but..." She turned to Harry. "Could you try to summon him?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure!"

With a concentrated look on his face, Harry stuck out his hand.

"What..." Neville began to ask, but Luna shook her head at him.

About twenty seconds later, a toad floated through the door. It landed on Harry's hand, which he then stuck out to Neville. The latter just gaped at him. Absentmindedly he plucked the toad from Harry's hand and looked at it.

"Trevor! But you didn't use a wand! How did you do that?" Neville was completely flabbergasted.

Harry looked a bit embarrassed at the other boy. "I have a knack for wandless magic, it's an ability my dad helped me develop. Please don't tell this to anyone, I don't want to stand out for it. I don't want any differential treatment. I still have to learn a lot of wand magic."

Hermione snorted. "You can basically magic your way up and down the entire first year curriculum."

Harry threw her a medium intensity glare. "As if you two couldn't!"

Both girls laughed at him and Luna quipped. "Leave me out, this is your thing."

Harry then turned to the still staring boy. "Neville would you like to join us? I could use some back up."

Neville smiled at them and nodded. After he had settled down, Harry handled the introductions.

"This is Hermione Granger." He indicated the girl on his left. "And over here is Luna Lovegood. I'm Harry Potter."

Once again Neville gaped at him. "You...are Harry Potter! And you don't want to be treated differently!? You are a h..."

Harry interrupted him. "No...please...I'm just Harry, OK? Don't give me any of that hero worship bullshit."

Neville thought about that for a moment, then he stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, just Harry. I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Thanks, my dad has warned me about the entire hero thing, they have going about me. We never tell anyone our names, unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Your dad?" Neville looked confused. "I...I thought both your parents are...well dead."

Harry gave him a slightly uncomfortable smile. "They are. My dad, that's my uncle John."

"Oh...sorry, well I live with my gran." Neville looked sheepish.

"And I live with my aunt." A confident female voice interjected.

In the still open door, stood a first year girl. She had long dirty blonde hair and a heart shaped face. The girl entered and sat down next to Neville, who reacted like he knew her.

"Hi I'm Susan Bones. I'm sorry but I couldn't help overhear your chat. I was on my way back from the loo and heard your name." She indicated Harry.

Harry held up his hands. "Please I told Neville already, no boy-who-lived business."

She smiled at him, a bit guiltily. "Oh...I overheard that part as well. That's the main reason I came in. It makes you simpatico."

Susan stayed a few more minutes, mainly to chat with Neville. They did really already know each other. Neville's gran and Susan's aunt were well acquainted.

After her chat with Neville, she stood. "I have to get going again, before Hannah organizes a search party. Maybe we can get together at school sometime?"

They said there goodbyes and Harry asked Neville, if he had a favorite topic.

"Herbology." Neville got a bit red faced.

Harry in the meantime dug around in his book bag. He got a combined potions and herbology book out and gave it to him. It talked about harvesting and curing potions ingredients from diverse magical plants.

It was two hours later, that the door opened again. This time it was to admit a jolly round witch, that pushed a snack trolley. After being Harry's friend for a couple of weeks, even Hermione had her favorites among wizarding sweets.

After a long series of discussions, they had found out that Hermione wasn't opposed to sweets at all, but to the sugar they contained. John had then told her which wizarding sweets relied on magic for taste and therefore didn't contain any.

She had tried all of those, but her favorite by far were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The horrible tastes one got sometimes, didn't even bother her much. She laughed it off with her friends.

Luna preferred chocolate frogs and collected the cards. She had quite a few of them and had used them to show her friends some famous wizards in history. Nothing came close to pudding in her book, though.

Harry preferred licorice wands. He liked his sweets to last and enjoyed the taste.

Neville wasn't particular to anything, but ended up buying a cauldron cake.

They ended up chatting, snacking and reading for the rest of the way. Neville proved to be nice and smart, but he was too shy for his own good. The trio, in the end, even shared their pudding with him.

As the sky grew darker, they knew that Hogwarts couldn't be far anymore. They decided to get dressed in their robes. Harry took his form his bag and followed Neville to his compartment, to change. This confused Luna a bit, but as no one but her seemed to be, she didn't ask. The boys reached the girls, just as the train pulled into Hogsmead Station.

They got off the Express and came face to face with the biggest man they had ever seen. The giant shouted for the first years to assemble around him. He led them down to a small landing area at a lake, where a dozen small boats had been anchored.

They were told to get into the boats, but only up to four per boat. Hermione, Luna and Harry immediately snatched Neville as their fourth, that way they had a boat to themselves.

As they drifted along the starlit surface of the black lake, the four children talked quietly among themselves. Then the boat drifted around a bend and they got their first view of the magnificent castle. The boats floated through a curtain of magical vine, that parted in front of them, into an underground cavern. Upon arrival at a second landing, the giant told them to get out of the boats and led them up a rock stair case, to a stern looking witch.

Hermione informed them, that this was Professor McGonagal. The witch that had informed her about Hogwarts. The professor looked like she had never laughed a day in her life, but the wrinkles around her eyes belied that impression. She led them into the actual entrance hall of Hogwarts, where she told them to wait in front of a set of huge double doors. Professor McGonagal also reminded them to be on their best behavior and suggested that some use the time to freshen up a little. Her eyes rested on a redhead, who had a large soot stain on his nose.

After she had gone inside, a blonde boy spoke up.

"I would have thought that Harry Potter would be on the train. However he seems to be too much of a coward to show his face." He had spoken to two, rather brutish looking, boys behind him.

Neville had to chuckle at this. Susan and Hannah Abbot, whom she had just introduced to them, broke out laughing. He of course thought they were agreeing with him and laughing about Harry Potter. Harry however knew they were laughing, because they knew better. Hermione and Luna couldn't help but grin at Harry, as he made absolutely no move to correct the ponce.

The redhead with the soot on his nose, jumped to his 'defence', for whatever reason.

"If he isn't here, then there is probably a good reason for it. Dumbledore probably has him training somewhere."

This had Susan and Hannah in tears again and Neville lost his battle as well and joined in their laughter. The redhead turned to them, quite angrily.

"This is nothing to laugh about. He's our savior after all!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the girls and they promptly joined the other three in their mirth. The boy rounded on him then.

"You should wish to ever be half the man, Harry Potter already is!"

This proved to be too much for Harry and he descended into gales of laughter.

This was the scene Professor McGonagal walked into mere seconds later. There were six first year students, practically rolling on the floor, laughing. She sternly demanded to be told what was happening, though Harry saw the corners of her mouth twitch some. She looked at the redhead, who had quite the red head and looked like he had suffered a stroke.

Harry decided to take pity on the professor. He wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to be serious once more.

"These two." He indicated the blonde and the redhead. "Are the best comedy duo ever. Honestly guys, did you rehearse that or was that improv?" Both wizards looked back at him with blank expressions. 'Purebloods, in all probability.'

The professors lips twitched some more, while her eyes frowned at the six. They pulled themselves together as good as possible, but every once in a while, one would giggle. After they had calmed down sufficiently, Professor McGonagal led them into the Great Hall.

Their progression stopped at the head table. The professor stopped right in front of a three legged chair, that had an old hat sitting on top of it. All was silent for a moment. Then a tear opened in the hat and it began to sing.

[For the sake of convenience, and because of copyrights, please look up the song from first year.]

After the song had ended, Professor McGonagal took over again.

"When I call you, please step forward and sit on the chair. You will then be sorted by the talking hat."

Hannah was the first to go and got to be a Hufflepuff. Susan followed her friend. Soon after her, it was Hermione's turn to be sorted. After a long moment the hat proclaimed his decision.

"Gryffindor!"

When it was Neville's turn, his knees were shaking. He stepped up to the chair. The hat took a bit longer to sort him. But finally the decision was made.

"Gryffindor!"

After Neville, Luna stepped up. The hat seemed to take even longer to sort her. But finally he shouted out a house.

"Gryffindor!"

Then quite a bit later, it was Harry's turn. It was deathly quite in the hall, when the professor called his name. 'So much for not being treated differently.' He stepped up to the chair and a whisper spread through the assembled students. He lost his sense of vision, as the hat slipped over his eyes.

' _Hmm...what to do with you? You have a lot of potential. You could use Slytherin to become the best, you possibly could become. Ravenclaw would help with your thirst for knowledge. Hufflepuff would give you the biggest family. But your heart draws you to your friends, to Gryffindor.'_ The voice was right in Harry's head. After a short pause, it continued. _'Well what is your input to this situation?'_

Harry decided to think right back. 'I want to stay with my friends. Also wouldn't it be quite Slytherin, to get sorted into Gryffindor?' He added a mental laugh and got one in return.

' _Yes quite right, sly little bugger are you not. Well stay with your friends then!_ ' "Gryffindor!"

The hat was pulled from his head and he went to join Neville, Luna and Hermione. The entire table was chanting his name and he heard several voices tell tall tales about him. He rolled his eyes as he sat down.

He followed the sorting, especially the redheaded boy. "Weasley, Ronald." He was sorted into Hufflepuff. He complained loudly and told the teachers that the hat must be defective. All to no avail, in the end he had to join the Hufflepuff table.

The blonde boy from before, "Malfoy, Draco", had been sorted into Slytherin.

As the last first year, "Zabini, Blaise" had been sorted, the Headmaster stood to speak.

"Welcome at Hogwarts. For some it's the first time, so feel right at home. For others, we're glad to have you join us again this year. Just a few beginning of year statements have to be made, before we enjoy our feast. First of all, I would like to remind everyone that a list of all forbidden items is available on the door of our caretaker, Mr Filch. Second, the forest on the ground is off limits, to all students! Third and last of all, the right corridor on the third floor is also off limits, to all who do not want to die a most horrible death." He looked very grave as he said it. "Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, enjoy the food and drink."

After a wave of the mans hand, the food appeared on the platters in front of them. Harry had felt only house elf magic, as the food arrived. But he had to admit, it was a great parlor trick.

They ate of every thing and all of it was delicious. Harry had to admit, that the castle elves were great cooks. After eating and drinking enough for three, the trio was stuffed and tired and longed for a comfortable bed.

The Headmaster rose once more and after throwing some random words at them, left them to the care of the prefects. The first years followed them to the respective common rooms and dorms.

The children were so tired, that hardly anyone took note of the way. Hermione made the effort and Harry relied on his perfect memory. Once they had reached the Gryffindor common room, the trio hugged goodnight and Harry went upstairs with Neville, while Hermione and Luna took the other stairwell.

When the boys entered their dorm, they found that all their belongings had already been placed with their beds. Neville simply flopped down on his bed and fell asleep right away. Harry wanted to do the same, but a dim light from his book bag caught his attention.

As he looked in, he saw the pendant his dad had made him. It was glowing so bright, he had to close his eyes for a moment. That meant that Voldemort's essence was close by. Harry was instantly awake again. Concentrating on John he called out for him in his mind. 'Dad, are you still awake?'

' _Yes. What's the matter Harry, you've barely been gone for a day.'_

'I know, but the pendant you gave me, is glowing brightly.' He attached a mental image of the item.

' _That means, that somewhere in the castle is a horcrux. I had feared that would be the case. As far as we know, he has always had a very special interest in the castle. It was always probable he would hide one their.'_

'What should I do about this?'

' _For now, be careful. You know what these things feel like. Especially protect the girls from them, you might be immune to the effects of these things. To a certain point Luna might be as well. Hermione is strong willed, but this IS still powerful magic. So make sure to protect them if you encounter one. Also take the pendant with you and check if the glow changes in brightness or color.'_

Harry nodded. 'I will do that. I hope we don't come across one of these in here.'

' _They are probably quite well hidden, you're in a school full of children after all. Kids are known for picking up stuff they find interesting and playing with it. If I were a dark lord, I wouldn't want my soul anchors left to the mercy of children.'_

Harry thought over this. 'You're right I guess. It has to be secreted away in a good hiding place, else the Headmaster would also know about this.'

They quickly came to their goodbyes then and finally Harry went to bed. Despite being beat, it took quite some time for him to fall asleep. He kept thinking about the reaction of the pendant and couldn't get rid of the feeling, that something was off.

The next morning broke early for Harry, as a particularly loud snore woke him. He went to get ready for the day. After getting dressed, he went down to the common room, where he found Hermione waiting on him and Luna.

"Good morning, Hermione." He hugged her.

"Good morning, Harry." She replied looking far to smug.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing?" Harry gave her a long hard look. "Okay, Okay...Luna didn't want to wake up this morning, so I levitated some water over her head. The spell ended after I left the dorm of course."

Hermione grinned at him. Harry moaned. Luna, he had found out, was not a morning person. If she woke by herself, everything was fine. She was the most pleasant person either of them knew. If she was woken however…

A frizzy haired, bleary eyed Luna made her way down the stairs. She gave Harry a hug. "G' morning, 'rry." She turned to glare at Hermione.

The girl in question, threw up her hands, to signal for peace, but couldn't quite keep the grin from her face. Luna just grouched about 'fu'n mornin' P'ple' and made her way out the portrait hole. They knew that during breakfast, this Luna would transform into the person they knew. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, shrugged and followed her.

Harry used his eidetic memory to navigate the halls, but there was a pit fall he hadn't foreseen. Moving staircases. Suddenly they stood in front of a locked door, in a deserted corridor, with no idea on which floor they even were on.

"I don't know how this happened. Some how the way downstairs, must have changed over night."

Harry was extremely confused by this. He usually only needed to see a way once, to know it next time he took it.

Hermione then added her own thoughts to this. "Well we're in a magical castle, so that is not even that improbable."

Luna, still not fully awake, pointed her wand at the door. "Alohomora." The door unlocked and all three of them looked past it, as the blonde opened the door.

Inside stood the biggest, hungriest dog, they had ever seen. Oh...and it had three heads. Luna tried to immediately slam the door shut again, but the dog pushed against it with his middle head. Harry sent a wandless stinging hex at the protruding nose of the large canine and bought them valuable seconds. They managed to close the door and Harry used a wandless locking charm on it.

"I would guess..." He said a bit breathlessly. "...that this is the forbidden corridor on the third floor."

Luna was by now fully awake. "No, I don't think so. Whatever made you think that?" Her crack at humor, was wholly underappreciated by her friends.

Hermione then made the suggestion to get out of their, as quickly as possible and the other two wholeheartedly agreed. They found their way back to the stairs and now knowing on which floor they had been, made it down to the Great Hall.

Right outside they were accosted by Ron, the redhead. He pointed at Harry and shouted at him.

"It's your fault! You broke the hat and now I'm a Hufflepuff. I'm never going to live this down!"

Harry frowned at him. "What's wrong with Hufflepuff? Susan and Hannah got sorted there and didn't seem to mind. Also I don't think this is how it works, the hat makes the decision and that is final. How can that be my fault? And how should I break the hat? That has to be the stupidest thing I was ever accused of, I would have to check that though."

Harry now looked thoughtful. "No...No it IS definitively the stupidest thing I have EVER been accused of."

Ron opened his mouth for a retort, but redheaded twins dragged him away by the arms. The had more than a passing resemblance to the git and Harry guessed them to be his brothers. While they were dragging him off, they berated him.

"Now, now Ronniekins. We can't have you..."

The other brother took over. "...get into trouble on your first day of school."

Luna, Hermione and Harry looked after them, until they disappeared around a corner. While still wondering what the scene had been all about, they entered the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table. They had a pleasant breakfast. The lack of proper pudding was especially hard on Luna though.

Halfway through their meal, they received their timetables from Professor McGonagal. Looking at it, Harry was extremely happy with their first lesson ever.

"Potions, fantastic and we have history of magic right afterwards, that sounds like an interesting first morning." He had no idea how wrong he would be on both accounts.

They were waiting in the potions classroom for their professor. Harry had taken the time to arrange his potion making supplies and inspected his knives for chips and residue. With a loud bang the door to the classroom flew open, the man that entered made one connection in the minds of the trio. 'Batman' The billowing cloak, the permanent scowl etched into his face and a sense for theatrics.

"In this class, you will learn the precise and delicate art of potion making. Some of you I expect to be more gifted" He looked at the blonde ponce. "some I expect to lack this gift completely." He for whatever reason looked at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, our resident celebrity." He sneered at him. "Let us check what you might know, a quick quiz if you want."

Harry just nodded.

"Where would you look for a bezoar?"

"In a goats stomach."

"And you surely know of the properties this special item has and the value it finds in potion making."

"It can save you from most poisons, in potions it usually finds use in antidotes and flushing potions."

While that was correct, it was knowledge for third year and above. Frowning he tried again. "Well then, what is the use of alihotsy?"

"The leaves cause uncontrollable laughter and hysteria, so I would guess they would be used in cheering potions and maybe cures for depression. It should then probably also contain some ginger root, to stabilize the effects of the alihotsy and some flux weed to dampen the entirety of effects."

The professor looked at him flabbergasted. This first year spouted links between ingredients, he himself had taken years to comprehend, so he must have cheated. Alihotsy was an ingredient used in NEWT level potions. That this was the son of James Potter, his arch nemesis, was only a coincident, of course. As a teacher he would never be biased against students.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for cheating."

Harry quickly glanced at his timetable. "Uhm Professor...uh...Snape, I didn't cheat. How should I have cheated anyway? I didn't know the questions you were going to ask me."

"And another five for your lip, Potter." Sure that this would shut the annoying first year up, Snape turned to his blackboard. As he heard Harry speak, he kept right on turning.

"I don't agree with your deduction of points, per rule #4531 of the Hogwarts rule book, I demand the presence of second teacher to verify your decision."

Snape gaped at him for a full ten seconds, then made a move for his office. But Harry wasn't done yet.

"It's on page 356, line 5."

Now Snape basically ran from the room. Ten minutes later he returned, together with another teacher. The woman went over to Harry.

"I am Professor Vector, the arithmancy teacher here at Hogwarts. I'm here on your request."

"Thank you Professor. I asked for a second teacher, as I disagreed with Professor Snape's deduction of points. To him I cheated in a quiz, that he made up on the spot. With questions that were to hard for any potions newbie. I luckily knew the answers and was more than happy to supply them. For this he deducted ten points and after I asked how I could have cheated, he took another five for 'my lip'." Harry actually made quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

Septima Vector was intrigued by the youth that was unfailingly polite and seemingly knew the rule book better than most of the teachers. "OK, I agree with you Mr. Potter. Would you be willing to swear on this?"

Harry nodded in conviction. "I would prefer not to, but I would not hesitate."

Septima smiled at the boy. "That's quite enough for me then. I declare the decision of my colleague null and void. The fifteen points will be returned to Gryffindor."

"Thank you Professor." Harry was smiling right back.

"My pleasure. Ohh...and Mr Potter, once you enter your third year, you have to take elective courses. I would like to see you in one of my arithmancy classes."

"I look forward to it."

Professor then turned to her colleague. "Severus." Her demeanor had changed, from pleasant to cool and she stalked out of the dungeon room.

Snape was so out of his depth, he didn't even manage to be angry at the boy. At the corner of his mind, the question of why the boy was not a Slytherin slipped in. He quietly waved his wand at the board, where the instructions appeared.

Harry quickly started preparing his ingredients. He knew some shortcuts from brewing it before, so he, Hermione and Luna finished first. The potions were perfect and knowing that the brat would only invoke the same rule again, he had to award them full marks and even points.

"Very nice." He said with a face, that looked like he had just been bitten by a lemon. A bit shocked and very, very sour. "Take ahh...one point...each for Gryffindor." It looked like saying the words was causing him physical pain.

The trio choose to ignore his mood and instead opted to be happy about earning house points. As they made their way to History of Magic, Harry couldn't help why Professor Snape had singled him out like that. He was sure the man tried to get a rise out of him. It was something he had encountered with bullies before and had learned to ignore these things early on.

They reached the classroom with time to spare and got a place at the front of the room. As the lesson started, the teacher, Professor Binns, entered by floating through the blackboard. He was a ghost and at first Harry thought this to be the coolest teacher he had ever had. I mean, learning history from someone who had lived in at least part of it.

While history was supposed to be extremely interesting, the voice of their Professor could put the liveliest insomniac to sleep. All he ever spoke about were goblin rebellions and the accounts of 'survivors' sounded suspiciously biased to Harry. It was somewhat hard to follow and Harry knew that the information would be in his head, if he just managed to stay awake.

As they left the classroom for lunch, Harry wondered if he would have to brew focusing potions, just to be awake enough for History of Magic the next time around.

The way down to lunch, went better than their way to breakfast had ended. They quickly reached the Great Hall and had a quick look at their timetables. Charms was next. The trio hoped the class would be better than the two they had already had.

Lunch at least was enjoyable and they chatted about the charms they had learned over the summer. Luna was astoundingly well versed. She had learned a few charms from her mother, when she was still alive. Hermione had learned well in the weeks she had spent as Harry's friend. Harry was able to do them all wandlessly. Casting with his wand, however, still proved to be a challenge. He often put way too much power into the spells.

Their charms professor was at least a lot more jolly than both, Snape and Binns. He was also really small and something about him was off, thought Harry. He almost felt like a goblin. He taught them a few basics and then had them practice the color changing charm. Hermione and Luna managed it on their first try and changed the color of the piece of velvet in front of them. Harry not only changed the velvet, but also the entire table top. Professor Flitwick, however, was more than ecstatic about Harry's power output.

Their second class that afternoon and the last class of the day, was Defense against the Dark Arts. It was held by Professor Quirell, who looked and acted like he was afraid of his own shadow. His emotions told Harry, that his first impression had been right. He was scared to death, which made him ask, why someone like Quirell, taught defense against anything. The man looked like he couldn't defend against the flu, if you vaccinated him.

Over dinner Harry, Hermione and Luna reached the conclussion that, while charms had been interesting and cool, the majority of their classes had been disappointing. And that was largely because of the teachers, who were either scared, dead or biased. The subjects themselves probably would be a lot more fun, if competent teachers taught them. They reached the conclusion to do what they could do best and learn the material on their own. At least until better teachers would be available.

After dinner the trio settled into the common room. They read ahead for the next day, where they would have DADA, Herbology, History and Transfiguration. While they knew that two of their lessons would be either boring or awkward, they hoped that at least the other two would be better.

At 10 pm, they packed up and headed to their respective dorms. Harry hugged the girls goodnight. Once inside his dorm he changed into his night clothes and tried to contact John, but only silence answered him. Thinking that his dad had maybe fallen asleep, Harry rolled over to do the same.

At the Potter home. John had just concentrated on upholding a magical field, when he felt Harry trying to reach him. He finished his analysis of the Horcrux. He then tried to reach Harry, but he must have fallen asleep by then. John took a moment to think about a fast way to communicate for them, that was a little bit more convenient. A quick thought crossed his mind and he got a pane of mirror glass from one of the drawers in his workshop. He cut two pieces from it and started to enchant them.

After he had finished his work on the piece of mirror, he opted to send it tomorrow. He would go to Diagon Alley and rent an owl. He was about to head to bed, when a tock-tock-tock from the kitchen stopped him.

"What now?"

He went to the kitchen and already saw the lifeless raven by the window. He opened it for the strange messenger and the bird flew to the two pieces of mirror. It tapped its beak on the piece that had a 'H' engraved on its back.

"So you want to pick up something, not deliver anything. Will you bring this to Harry?"

The dead eyes looked at John and the undead bird bobbed its head twice.

As the raven left, John couldn't shake the feeling, that something was very off. He went to bed and lay awake for a while, thinking that maybe there was more to these hallow, Xeno had told him about. He decided to talk to the man in the morning and finally was able to fall asleep.


	6. Hallows, a Mirror and Uriah Heep

A/N: Phew...This took longer than anticipated. Thanks to all of my reviewers. Thanks to 440+ people, who like this enough to follow and the 240+ people that have put it in their favorites.

Thanks to all of you who have left ideas in their reviews. I will use them, maybe not in this story, but maybe in the next.

Also a big thank you to my beta reader, The Muse of Apollo, who agreed to beta this story. Thanks for the great work.

PS: The last two words were clipped off, the first time I uploaded this. I have corrected it now. Sorry everybody. I chose to end the chapter there, as it would have gotten far too long and I didn't want to cut off mid dialouge.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

After John had woken Xeno and had gotten him somewhat back down to earth, the two men sat down in the Potter kitchen for breakfast. John prepared toast, eggs and bacon, while Xeno poured the tea.

"Xeno, you told me about the hallows. About how the owner of them all would be the master of death. Do you think the opposite could also be true?"

"You mean the master would also become the owner, if he happened to become the master first?"

John nodded.

"Well...I guess so. If someone were to be the master, without possessing them all. And you needed to possess them to be the master. Then these items would find their way into your possession."

John nodded again. "You know why I asked."

Xeno smiled at him. "Because of Harry of course. I like the lad."

John smiled as well, but his thoughts were on the future again. 'You and Dan like him now, but soon...what if one of your daughters becomes his girlfriend…or better yet, both!' He chuckled a bit at that thought. "These things Harry keeps getting fit the description of these hallows a little too well, I think. If he gets a wand delivered by raven now...I wouldn't know what else to think. It seems a little too elaborate to be a prank."

"I don't think this is a prank. You saw that I was unable to lift the stone, and I don't think that'll change. It was meant for Harry. I think this is the real resurrection stone, and I'm not supposed to use it."

Xeno suddenly looked very sad again. "It's almost as if I'm not supposed to go looking for my wife. I know, I would lose myself in any vision of her. Maybe it's for the best."

He broke down crying again. John placed a hand on his shoulder to show his support. "I know it's hard, but your daughter still needs you in her life."

The thought of Luna helped Xeno to dry his tears and together they finished breakfast.

* * *

Harry and the girls were having a pleasant breakfast. They had easily found their way to the Great Hall that morning. Luna had been fairly very quiet again, but as Hermione had not woken rudely her again, both got a hug and a slurred 'good morning' from her.

While enjoying the food, the Luna they knew started to emerge. She first started humming a little to herself and then began to softly sing. Only her friends could hear her. It was a song she had picked up from John's record collection, Lady in Black by Uriah Heep.

She kept singing while she placed the bacon people she had made into the sea of scrambled eggs. From a roll, she constructed two small live boats. Harry knew that Luna liked to have a back story for her breakfast and she would likely be the sea monster that ate all the boats and people. He liked her for her creativity and fantasy and was always a little sad, that he lacked both.

While Luna was busy preparing her morning massacre, Harry turned to his other best friend. Hermione was reading in a book that she had gotten from the library the previous day. She wanted to finish it, so she could get another one today. Closing her book, she looked at Harry and found him looking back at her.

"Something the matter Harry?"

"No everything is fine. I just had to think how happy and totally lucky I am, to have you both as my friends."

Luna and Hermione both went to hug him, but at that moment a raven landed in front of them. Shocked, the children watched the undead creature. It placed a package in front of Harry and dissolved into the air. Harry unwrapped it. He read the note that was stuck on top of the mirror inside and released his breath.

"It's from John, I wonder how he got the raven to deliver it." He read further. "This mirror is a communications device. He says he was upholding a magical field yesterday when I tried to contact him. These mirrors allow you to leave a message when the recipient is busy. That's cool."

Harry studied the device. "There is a runic sequence I recognize and a lot of others I don't. This looks like a register." He pushed the rune and it activated. One name appeared on the surface of the mirror. "Only one entry as of now. Maybe John can make you mirrors as well."

Luna nodded enthusiastically and devoured an unsuspecting bacon person. Hermione agreed happily. "Then my parents will finally leave me alone with the phone bill."

Grinning Harry pushed his thumb on the name of his dad. The entry started to flash and after the third time, John answered.

"Hello Harry. I'm glad the mirror works. I have engraved the runes in a bit of a hurry last night."

Harry smiled at his dad. "It's good to see you. Did you have more in mind when you designed the runes on this? The register seems to be able to fit more than one name."

John grinned. "Of course. I wanted to test the concept with these two. Now that I know it works, I will make more for Luna, Xeno, Hermione and one for Dan and Emma." Here the girls squealed in delight. Talking with their parents would be great. "Good morning you two. I hope Hogwarts has you well this morning."

After getting two affirmatives, he focused on Harry once more. "What about you Harry? Anything to be concerned about?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Maybe? I have to make my way to class now, though. Speak with you tonight?"

"Okay Harry, you three go and have fun in your lessons. I'll wait beside the mirror tonight until you call. Goodbye."

"Bye dad." Harry cut the connection.

After their hurriedly finished breakfast, they headed to their second lesson in DADA. It was as laughable as the first, and the trio left the class a bit bored.

Then they made their way on the grounds, to head to the greenhouses for their first Herbology lesson. Their teacher, Professor Sprout, was a jolly round witch. She liked a good laugh and awarded points to the hard working. Even though none of them enjoyed gardening, they liked Herbology. The magical plants were very interesting. Harry had not read too much about Herbology and so Neville earned a lot of points for Gryffindor.

As the trio sat down to lunch, after getting the dirt out of their nails, they had already voted Charms and Herbology to their most favorite lessons so far. Had Professor Snape not been so biased against Harry, Potions would have been up there as well.

While they were eating, they discussed the plants they now knew about and the ingredients that came from them. Then their chatting turned to their parents at home. Luna in particular had a hard time being apart from her dad, though cuddling into Bob the Bunny at night helped. She couldn't wait for the mirrors to be completed.

After lunch, Harry had somehow managed to stay awake through his second History of Magic class. Hermione, who knew about his perfect memory, had stopped taking notes and just prodded Harry every odd minute to keep him awake. Luna had abandoned the class all together and had fallen asleep on her desk, where she made cute snoring noises.

Harry's head hurt, with all the information on 'Goblins that had lured honorable wizards into an ambush'. As they made their way to transfiguration he longed for a pain relief potion and vowed to place one in his book bag.

Transfiguration was enjoyable. Professor McGonagall knew her subject. While she was strict, she was also fair. As long as you paid attention and did your best, she awarded points. If you disturbed the class, or were simply lazy she took them from you.

The first transfiguration they had to attempt, was the change of match to needle. Hermione and Luna managed that well, but Harry once again let his concentration slip. The needle turned from simple iron into steel to stainless steel all the way to copper and lastly brass. Professor McGonagall looked shocked at the brass needle, as transfiguring anything into copper, let alone brass, took a lot of energy.

To do it by accident as a first year, it made her shudder what the boy might be capable of when older. She knew that bronze, silver and gold were unobtainable by ordinary transfiguration. If no one told that to Harry Potter though, he might just be able to do it. What she didn't know, was that Harry already lowered his power output a lot.

They were awarded full marks and points for their transfiguration. Harry even earned more for the advanced transfiguration he had done, despite it being an accident. This put the trio in a very good mood for the rest of the day.

Throughout the day, Harry had been watching the pendant. It was still glowing brightly and the intensity didn't change. The only changes in color happened in the DADA classroom, where it turned a little red and on the seventh floor, by the entrance to Gryffindor, where it turned blue a bit. He made a mental note to tell John later.

The trio stayed in the common room until most others had gone to bed and then contacted John. He immediately answered them.

"Hello you three."

"Hello John/Dad." Echoed back at him.

"So tell me, how have your first days of classes been."

They told him of their experiences so far and Harry put emphasis on their potions class.

"Do you know why Professor Snape doesn't seem to like me? He singled me out and I was lucky I had read about the things he asked me about. The questions were far too advanced for someone of our age."

John thought for a moment and checked what he could know. "I don't know exactly. He was always at odds with your father, but he knew your mother. They were neighbors as children and friends. But sometime during school, they had a fight, a bad one, and they were no longer friends after that."

Luna was confused. "How can you fight so bad, that you're no longer friends afterwards?"

John smiled at the girl, she really had a unique view of the world. For her it was all easy, it was the people that made it difficult. "I don't know Luna, but sometimes, when people are angry, they say things they don't mean. It's always bad things and if they're bad enough, the other person can't forgive them, at least not right away."

"Oh...Okay I guess." Luna still sounded confused.

"So, you're trying to tell me, that he doesn't like my father and that he alienated my mother. But what about me, he doesn't even know me. Is this man so petty, that he can't let the grudge against my father rest? A man that has been dead for almost ten years? I pity him."

John smiled at Harry, he sometimes forgot how mature the lad was. "I think you're right with your assessment. Maybe you should try and talk to the man. I can't promise anything, but maybe it will help."

Harry nodded. "The pendant you gave me has been glowing the entire time. It changes color a little, but the intensity never varies."

"What changes in color have you noticed?"

"It turned a little red in DADA and on the seventh floor, by the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, it turned slightly blue. That was about it." Harry shrugged.

John looked thoughtful for a moment. "I ran some calculations, after you have given me the information on your first night. There has to be, at least, two pieces of his soul in the castle at any given time to cause a glow of this intensity. The colors might indicate where the pieces are hidden. One on the seventh floor and one on whichever floor your DADA classroom is on."

Hermione supplied the answer. "It's on the second floor."

"I however beg you not to go looking for these things, I will do that at a later time. The information you have given me Harry, is already invaluable." John cautioned them.

They all promised not look for any horcruxes and to notify him immediately if they encountered any.

"Very well, has anything else of importance happened?"

"Well Dad, I don't know what you make of this but..." Harry launched in his tale of their first morning and of the three-headed dog they had encountered. "What do you make of it?" He asked after he had finished.

"I think either Dumbledore is going senile, or he is willingly putting students lives at risk. In both cases, I implore you to be careful. The situation with the Cerberus could have ended a lot worse and you could have been hurt and even killed. Did you lock the door again afterwards?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I locked it wandlessly. It was very negligently locked, Luna could undo it with a simple 'alohomora'. I used something more advanced to lock it back up."

"Very good and very well done. Imagine if an ordinary first year had stumbled across that dog. I would like to know how Dumbledore would have explained the serious injuries or even death of that student. I'm glad you three have been training for most of the last month. Once again, I beg you don't go looking for that dog again, all I can guess is that this dog is guarding something or it's some sort of trap."

"Trap...trap?" Harry mumbled and Hermione frowned in thought as well.

"A trapdoor." Both said at the same time.

"What?" Now John was confused, a state he didn't like a lot.

"The dog, it stood on a trapdoor!" Hermione said, while Harry nodded beside her. "I had seen it immediately after Luna had opened the door, but over the dog I forgot again."

"So, it guards something. Interesting, I read something about a break in at Gringotts over the summer. The vault that had been broken into had been emptied out the same day. How much does anyone want to bet, that this has something to do with the Cerberus in Hogwarts?"

With soul pieces scattered throughout the school and a killer dog that had been negligently locked in, none of the children were willing to bet him on it. It was just too likely with everything that had happened so far.

"Maybe our friends from the goblin nation will be willing to give me the information whose vault was broken into. Especially if I tell them about the happenings at Hogwarts. Was there anything else for today?"

"Yes, it's minor though." Harry had remembered as John had talked about the goblins. "Our History of Magic class. The information we get sounds incredibly biased. We are taught by a ghost and all he ever tells us is how despicable the goblins are. That, and he could put a rock to sleep. Perhaps you can ask the goblins if they know about the 'lessons' that are taught here. Please also tell Ragnok that I would love to hear their accounts, from their historians."

"I will, I'm sure he will be pleased by your request. Well if that was everything, let's turn in for the night."

All three children nodded and yawned. They said their goodbyes and the girls asked John to relay their greetings. After John had broken the connection, the girls hugged Harry and kissed his cheeks. As they went up to their dorm, Harry stayed in the common room for a moment longer. He filed all the information in the compartments in his head. When he was done, he sighed, long and deep, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a long day, as they had their first astronomy lesson late at night.

* * *

Harry awoke the next day and could barely open his eyes, they had stayed up too late the last night. He forced his tired body through the martial arts routines he had become accustomed to. After a quick shower, he could then at least keep his eyes open. As he came down the stairs, he saw an equally tired Hermione waiting on him and Luna was nowhere to be seen.

"Morning. Where's Luna?" Harry asked her as they hugged.

"Morning. She's still in bed. I didn't want to wake her up again." Hermione threw a glance at the clock and yawned. "I didn't want to get up either."

"I think you might have to wake her. I would do it, but you know I can't go up to your dorm."

Hermione nodded at that and went up the stairs. Two minutes later she hurried back down, as the sound of breaking porcelain was heard.

"That crazy girl just threw her water jug at me! Well at least she seems to be awake now."

Harry just smiled at Hermione, he knew she liked Luna just as much as he did. Ever since their fight, all three of them had grown closer to one another. That was the reason John had added another bedroom for Hermione to their home.

Ten minutes later and under a stream of profanities, that a girl so young shouldn't even be privy to, Luna made her way down the stairs. She was still cursing under her breath as she walked past her friends and out the portrait hole. Harry and Hermione shrugged at each other and followed her down. They didn't notice that despite being tired and disgruntled, Luna took the shortest route to the Great Hall that morning.

As soon as they had found their place at the Gryffindor table, Harry placed a cup of strong black tea in front of the still fuming girl. She drank half the cup in one go, set the cup down and beamed Harry a small smile. Luna then made short work of the food in front of her, too tired to make anything elaborate from it.

The day dragged on from breakfast in the same way. Even the courses that were usually fun took far too long in their minds. In History after lunch all three lost their battle and joined their classmates in a quick nap.

After Charms, they still had over two hours before dinner and they opted to get some sleep in that time. Harry set an alarm spell, as did Hermione, and they agreed to meet in the common room in before heading to dinner. They were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

They awoke a bit more refreshed and made their way to dinner. Once they had entered the Great Hall they noticed Susan Bones waving them over to the Hufflepuff table. Neville already sat beside her and Hannah, of course. The trio joined them and sat down opposite them.

"Hey guys. We haven't had time to really talk to each other. I thought that we could chat a little over dinner." Susan smiled at them.

Luna nodded, her curious, pale eyes wide. Hermione smiled back at Susan and Harry felt the need to verbalize for the girls. "Sure, we'd love to."

They spent a few minutes chatting away about the lessons they had so far and noticed that Hannah and Susan had basically the same impressions as them. Only Neville was embarrassed to admit that he had trouble in every class, but Herbology. He fell asleep in History, almost melted a cauldron in potions, failed to make any change to his match, didn't manage to change the color of his piece of velvet and his social anxiety made him twitch worse than Professor Quirell.

Harry took a quick peek at Neville's core and saw that he had more than enough power. His anxiety seemed to block most of it off though. "Neville could you do a color changing charm for me?"

Neville's blush grew deeper in color. "I just told you, I can't do it."

"Yeah, I heard. I want to know why! You have plenty of power, but your subconscious blocks you. Your spells however should still work, it's puzzling that they don't. So, please, perform a color changing spell for me."

Neville shrugged, pulled out his wand and made the movements and said the incantation. Nothing happened.

"I told you, it doesn't work for me." He was blushing again. Worse than before.

"And I think I know why. Did you buy this wand?"

"No, it was my dad's wand. Why do you ask?" Neville was confused.

"It doesn't work for you. You have the magic flowing. Before it reaches the end of the wand it simply stops. That's not how this should work. You should really see about getting another wand as soon as possible, this one does nothing for you. I guess you could force it to work for you, but it would drain you. It also seems to me that your anxiety caps off your magic. Give me your wand for a second."

Neville handed it over, curious where Harry was going with this.

"Lumos." Harry made the wand light up, but the light was fairly dim. Slowly he released more magic into the spell and the light intensified. "Nox." Harry sighed. "It's almost like the wand actively fights you. It still belongs to someone else."

"Yes, my dad. He is very, well...he's as good as gone. He and my mother are still alive, but they could just as well be dead. Their minds have locked down." Neville's voice had become very quiet and hoarse.

Harry placed a hand on his shoulder. "I would like my dad to verify my theory about your wand. Maybe he can take a look at your parents if I ask him to. He knows a lot of magic."

Neville looked up, hope and tears shining in his eyes. "Really!?"

"Whoa, Neville. I can ask him to take a look, I can't promise he can do anything. I don't want you to get your hopes up, only to crash when he can't do anything."

Neville looked a little dejected and nodded.

"I will ask him later about it, luckily we have a lot more direct way to be in contact than to rely on owls for it."

Neville nodded again and the rest of dinner was relatively quiet. Susan however had plans to write a letter later on and tell her aunty a few of the things she had just heard. Well, maybe not everything, sometimes Amelia Bones had a tendency to overreact.

Later, after dinner, Harry sat in his dorm and contacted John.

"Hello Harry. Anything new?"

"Hi Dad. No nothing on the things we talked about yesterday. I have to ask you something though."

"Go ahead." Now John was curious.

"A friend here at school, he has plenty of power, he seems to fail every course he has to use magic in. His anxiety also seems to block him. He uses a wand that actively resists him, but I want you to take a look as well." Harry looked pleadingly at him.

"Okay, I wanted to come by anyway. I will be there on Friday and take a look at your friend."

"Ehhh...that's not everything. I wanted to ask you to take a look at his parents as well. He says that their minds locked down. I thought you might have some idea to get them out of it again."

John sighed deeply. "I can do that as well, yes. Please don't go around and try to help everyone though. That will generate massive amounts of attention. Something we usually avoid. Tell me his name."

Harry smiled at John. "Longbottom. Neville Longbottom."

"Frank and Alice Longbottom, they're in St. Mungos. Permanent Spell Damage ward. They suffer from an overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse. I think I might be able to help them. It will take time and I can't make any guarantees. They have been in that state for 10 years."

John frowned. "Harry, tell your friend to never tell anyone about this. If it helps they will come around sometime throughout the year. If it doesn't they will probably never come around again. Tell him that no matter what happens, he has to keep my involvement quiet. I will see about them tomorrow."

"Thank you, Dad. I will make sure Neville understands it. He is extraordinarily clever, but he's good at hiding it." Harry smiled widely at his father.

John couldn't help himself and smiled right back.

Harry looked at the clock and yelped. "I have to go down to the common room, the girls are probably already waiting on me."

John laughed. "Well then I won't keep you any longer. Tell them my best and their parents said hello. I will have their mirrors ready soon, but I want it to be a surprise."

"I won't tell them, bye Dad."

Harry cut the connection and raced back to the common room, where two girls waited on him, their feet taping the same rhythm on the carpet. Both had crossed their arms and gave him the same exasperated look.

"I'm sorry. It took a little longer than I had anticipated." Harry held his hands in a 'I surrender' gesture.

Both girls glanced at each other, sighed and then smiled at him. He passed on John's greeting asked them if they had seen Neville and they pointed him to a table on the other side of the common room. He excused himself once more and sat beside the boy.

"Hey Neville, I talked to my dad. He has agreed to look at both your parents and your magic. You have to keep this quiet though. No one is to know about the thing with your parents. If it works you could have your parents back within a year, if it doesn't happen then, it will probably never happen."

Neville smiled at him, but his face soon fell. "Harry, Susan has heard you talk about that!"

"So?"

"Her aunt, she's the head of the DMLE. Susan will probably inform her about our talk. There goes my chance." Neville was quickly becoming distraught.

"Hold on." Harry looked around and after seeing that the common room was almost empty, decided to risk using the mirror.

John answered immediately. "What is it Harry, I thought the girls waited on you."

"They do, but we have a potential problem. Susan Bones heard our conversation, Neville just told me about her aunt being the head of the DMLE. This could prove troublesome, if she decides to investigate. Then we would be exposed to the public."

John looked thoughtful for a moment. "Keep calm, Harry. Guessing that Susan writes a letter tonight, Amelia will receive it early tomorrow. I will talk to her, so she keeps our involvement quiet. She could be an invaluable partner, maybe she would be interested to help us destroy Voldemort once and for all."

Harry released his breath in a relived sigh. "Okay, that was everything so far."

They said their goodbyes and ended the connection. Harry told Neville that they would see each other later and went back to the girls. They finally got to sit with him and review the information they had read on Astronomy. Harry didn't necessarily need to review, but it helped him to get information he might have glossed over on the first read.

When they finally made their way from the Astronomy Tower, most of them were deadly tired. Harry, Hermione and Luna were barely awake when they dragged themselves back down to the Gryffindor Tower and to their beds. They liked Astronomy as it was interesting, but the time it was held at wreaked havoc on their biological clocks.

Once more the children fell asleep immediately after getting into bed.

The next day they dragged themselves through their classes, until in the afternoon they had their first flying lesson. Hermione was very nervous, as was Neville. Luna was calm, she had flown a broom before, as had Harry.

The lesson went quite well, even though Hermione's broom only rolled around on the ground and Neville's didn't move at all. They had been instructed by their teacher, Madam Hooch, on the correct way to hold a broom and sit on it. She reprimanded Draco Malfoy, for doing it wrong all his past times.

As they were about to fly for their official first time, Neville finally lost his nerves and pushed of too early, lost control over his broom and fell off. Harry used a quick wandless cushioning charm on the ground. Neville landed hard, but Harry's charm kept him from being seriously hurt. Madam Hooch still took him to the infirmary for a checkup.

As they had gone, Draco Malfoy picked something from the grass and said it belonged to Neville. Harry went over to politely asked for the item, so he could return it to Neville. Draco however, instead of handing the item over, pushed of the ground and flew away. Harry had enough of his childish behavior and wandlessly summoned the object.

Draco was surprised to have the item torn from his hand. He followed its path with his eyes and flew head on into the castle wall. The broom broke and Draco's nose broke along with it. As he had been flying low to the ground, Harry didn't bother with a cushioning charm. Madam Hooch just returned from getting Neville into the infirmary, as a battered broom and broken student landed right at her feet.

The flying instructor sighed deeply, casting a floating charm on the unconscious Draco and got him to the infirmary as well. She told the class to disband and go to dinner early.

Later that evening they saw Draco Malfoy again. He was in the entrance hall, scrubbing the floor by hand. As he spied Harry, he tried to shout an insult at him, but due to the soapy water on the floor, he slipped while trying to get up. He hit his head on the floor and was unconscious for the second time that day.

Neville, fortunately, was able to rejoin them for dinner. He thanked Harry for the quick catch, as he knew no one else could have cast the spell. That Harry had also gotten his Remembrall back, got him even more thanks. Harry was a little embarrassed, but accepted the boy's gratitude. Hannah and Susan had again joined them but at the Gryffindor table this time. Harry questioned Susan about the work her aunt did and what it all entailed. Auror sounded like a cool career, but he already had one dark wizard to deal with. That was enough for his liking.

They went to bed early that day, as the Astronomy class the day before had them tired and testy.

* * *

The next morning, they had a double potions class again. Their professor seemed to walk on eggshells the entire time. Harry hung back after the class to talk to the man.

After the last student had left, he knew that Luna and Hermione would wait for him outside, Harry approached Professor Snape.

"Professor, do you have a moment?"

The man stopped his preparations and looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Very well, P...Mr. Potter." He folded his hands. "What would you like to talk about?"

"I would like to know where the animosity you have shown me stems from." Harry said neutrally.

The professor looked at him wide eyes.

"I know you were at odds with my father, and that you were friends with my mother. But we've only known each other for a week. Maybe we could start completely from the beginning and leave the past where it belongs?"

Severus Snape was shocked, not a state that he was used to. His mind was reeling. "Did you hear all of that from your aunt?"

Harry shook his head. "No. From my Uncle John."

"John Potter? The brother of your father? I thought he was missing, presumed dead even."

"He's very much alive, thank you." Harry had to chuckle a bit. "You can also save yourself the trouble to tell the Headmaster, Dad will come by today."

Severus pulled himself together. "Mr. Potter, while I would like to do that, there are forces at work that prevent me from doing so. Though you have effectively 'defanged' me, with your rule book."

"By forces, do you mean Death Eater children or the headmaster?"

Snape's jaw dropped. "How can you know…?" He stopped himself from saying too much.

"How can I, or should I say we, know that you were a spy? And that you told Voldemort about the prophecy? Well we know, and that should be enough for now. We have known for a while now, and I would like you to keep that information to yourself."

"You...you know!?" Severus Snape was not a man that was easily shocked, but the revelations from the boy managed that twice in one conversation. His mind was reeling again. He already knew he should ally himself with the Potters if possible.

"About the prophecy, yes I know and I have heard it in full. I don't even blame you for relaying it to Voldemort, thereby causing the murderer of my parents." Snape flinched. "I also know he is not gone yet. Something we intend to change in the foreseeable future. So, I ask again, can we start anew? I know of course, that you can't change your behavior in class too much, but I had hoped we could be civil outside of it."

Harry held out his hand and Severus took it without hesitation.

"It's good to know you understand. I was friends with your mother, yes, I even loved her." Tears shone in the man's eyes. "Until that day I called her something I've vowed to never say again. How could I have done that? I couldn't even apologize for it in time. Our friendship broke that day, all because I was jealous of your father."

Harry felt some sympathy for the man who had to later do things in a war. Things that haunted him till this day. He also saw Snape's sincerity.

"I'm sure my mother doesn't blame you anymore. She probably has all the information now, she will understand. Well, maybe we can chat about my parents a different time, I'm running very late for lunch."

Harry turned to leave, but the professor's voice stilled him. "Don't worry, the Headmaster won't be privy to our conversation and don't look him in the eye, he uses legillimancy on the students."

Harry nodded and thanked him. The trio was off, leaving a bewildered potions master behind.

As they had lost a lot of time after their potions class, lunch was a quick affair. After a fast meal, they were off to their last class of the week, Charms. Halfway through the lesson, Harry felt John enter the castle.

'Dad?' He thought at the presence.

'Yes?'

'You are here already?'

'Yes, and I have brought some guests with me. You will see later. We'll have a quick chat with the Headmaster first.'

'Snape is in our camp now. He warned me about Dumbledore using legillimancy on students.'

'Okay, I will talk with him later as well. Now, get back to your lesson.'

'Okay.'

Harry refocused on the world around him and saw Professor Flitwick standing in front of him. The teacher looked concerned.

"Is everything okay, Mr Potter?"

"Yes, sorry professor, I was deep in thought."

"Very well, now, please try and follow the rest of this lesson. Then your free for the weekend." The diminutive professor smiled at him.

After their classes for the day had ended, there was another surprise waiting on them. Their parents, minus John, Amelia and Susan Bones, and Augusta Longbottom waited to greet them. Susan and Neville introduced their guardians. Finally Harry asked where John was.

"He had to talk to Dumbledore alone." Said Amelia Bones, while she straightened her monocle.

Dan and Emma were looking around in wonder. When Hermione asked how they could see the castle at all, they showed her the bracelets they wore. They were covered in runes and symbols and practically glowed with power in the constant magical field of Hogwarts.

"They're also for protection, at least John said so."

Harry took a look at them. "Yes, I can see at least twenty runes that have a function in shielding. I can't decipher it all, but they should be pretty powerful."

Luna had become attached to Xeno, who refused to let his little girl go. They were just so happy to see each other again.

The entire group made their way to the Great Hall. They sat with their parents and enjoyed the afternoon in their presence. Augusta and Neville had left, as they were going into Diagon Alley to get Neville a new wand. She told him that John had talked to her and impressed that a fitting wand was imperative for her grandson. They both joined them again for dinner that night.

They had just started eating when John made his way into the hall with Professor Snape. The professor looked less than pleased, but Harry thought he saw him wink at him as he passed. John sat beside him tiredly and hugged the boy that had become his son.

"Finally, all that talking is done. It's so tiring. Especially talking to Dumbledore, that man could drive a psychiatrist around the bend. It's good to see you, son."

Harry grinned at his dad. "I haven't had the pleasure yet, but I'll take your word for it. What did you talk about?"

"Later Harry. We will have a private chat later, one with your friends and their parents and one with just us two. You can then later fill the girls in on anything they must know. For now, let's enjoy the food."

They ate well and then John led them to the head table, from which the Headmaster was mysteriously absent. He spoke to the deputy headmistress.

"Professor McGonagall, we require the room you had told me about earlier."

She nodded and led them to the side of the hall, she unlocked on of the smaller doors behind the teachers table and allowed them inside.

"Don't hesitate to ask the castle elves for anything." With that she closed the door.

John took position at the head of the table and asked everyone to sit down.

* * *

A/N2: Next time: The talk, Hermione's birthday and Halloween.


	7. Gifts, Trolls and Chocolate Frogs

A/N: Thank you everyone! The response to this still blows my mind. 'Master of Death' is now close to 590 Followers and 320+ people have put it in their favorites. I have trouble imagining 10 people reading this, almost 600 is too big a number to think about.

I'm so glad, so many of you like this story and keep on returning. A big thank you to everyone that left positive and/or constructive reviews.

The biggest thanks goes to my beta. The Muse of Apollo, who is an invaluable help in all of this. Especially for his patience in regard to my spelling and my grammar.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

After everyone had been seated, John spoke again.

"We're here right now, because we want all of you to know about Voldemort and about how he survived. You also need to have more information on Albus Dumbledore. We'd like your help in destroying the Dark Lord and thereby stop Dumbledore's machinations. This is no Order of the Phoenix, no Death Eaters. This is us trying to reach a common goal. There will be no defined leaders in this group and no name to it."

He paused to let the information sink in. Most of them had heard this before, with the exception of Susan and Neville, it was the reason they were here in the first place. A voice from the door shook everyone from their thoughts.

"I'm in. Anything to get me out from under the rule of these two." Severus Snape had crept into the room.

"I'm glad you could join us Professor, you'll supply us with invaluable information." John smiled at him.

He nodded. "I've a lot of experience being a spy, I can gather intelligence on both sides."

John was indicating a chair for him to sit in. "Your most important task is to help us gauge their reaction on anything we might do. However, the first chance we get, after we know how to, we will remove the Dark Mark on your arm and free you of that burden. I've not had the chance to study them and I think Dumbledore will find it most suspicious if I visit the castle every odd day. So, this might take a while."

For the first time that any of them could remember, Severus Snape smiled a genuine smile.

"Very well, the first piece of information I would like to share is a prophecy that was made before Harry here was even born. Son, if you would."

Harry cleared his throat and recited the prophecy, just as he had heard it from the recording a couple of years before. After he had finished, an outcry went through the adults of the group. John raised his hands and everyone quieted down once more.

"This prophecy pertains to me." Harry continued. "It states, plainly, that I have to be the one to end Voldemort. We think however, that Dumbledore has a different interpretation for it. He seems to think that I have to die, so Voldemort can finally be killed."

John took over again. "The reason he might believe that is that in order to become 'immortal', Voldemort made Horcruxes." Here, Amelia Bones sucked in a sharp breath. "He made preparations for another one the night he killed my brother and sister in law. A piece of him attached itself to Harry. Luckily, I was able to remove it. Right now, we think his soul is in at least six pieces and eight at most, not counting the one I removed from Harry. We have two of the others right now."

Amelia spoke up. "He has truly made so many of these abominations? How did you get hold of two?"

John sighed. "Yes, the state of the soul pieces in the anchors indicates this many. I think he was going for seven of them. He was probably at six and made the preparations for number seven that Halloween night, but we all know how that ended up. The goblins helped us with the first two. The next four, we have to find ourselves. We have reason to believe, that there are currently two pieces in Hogwarts. They should be well hidden and the children should have no contact with them whatsoever."

Augusta interjected. "The goblins _helped_ you? How did you manage to do that?"

"By being polite and treating them as equals. Equality of all magical life is a great goal, but only if you are prepared to live by it." John gave her a stern look.

Dan spoke up. "What about non-magical life? Aren't we worth something as well?"

An embarrassed silence descended onto the table. John smiled at the Grangers.

"He is right you know. If we want to reach our goals, we have to live by the morals we want upheld." His face took on a dark expression. "Look...look into the heart of our government. Look at the bigotry that still prevails in it. Look at Albus Dumbledore doing nothing to stop it."

John made a small pause before he continued. "He has been a part of the government since long before the last war. There have been plenty of opportunities to pass laws and change the course of things, but he was complacent and did nothing."

"So you want to get rid of both Voldemort and Dumbledore?" Augusta was puzzled.

Xeno answered her. "Yes, preferably at the same time."

Amelia had more to say. "Then Fudge has to go as well. He's so completely up Malfoy's arse, he could be waving at me from his mouth."

John nodded. "That's just as well. When you take on the government, you take on the whole government. We're glad to have you all on board so far. If any of you know about anyone else that is trustworthy and would want to help, tell me. I will then speak with them."

He waited for anyone to speak up and when no one did, continued. "This was just a preliminary meeting, it serves to make Dumbledore nervous and worry about us. Well, worry about me right now, but you get the picture. Professor, would you say we have reached that first goal?"

"I will only know for sure if he summons me tonight. From my experience, I would have to say that it's very likely." Snape smirked.

"Very good. There's one last thing. For us to stay in touch with each other and our loved ones, I have made these mirrors." He unpacked them from one of his pockets and handed one to each. "Once you activate them, they will automatically network with the others. You can call up the register with this rune."

He showed them how to work it. "You can reach the person by tapping their name in the register."

John tapped Harry's name and the mirror in front of the lad flashed. "If you can't reach someone immediately, you can leave them a message like this." He tapped a symbol in one of the corners of the mirror.

The flashing stopped and John's device turned red. He spoke a quick set of test words into his mirror and then had Harry play it back using his own.

Amelia had one more concern. "Our children, they won't be in danger, will they."

"We'll do our best to keep them out of it. If we can't stop Voldemort in time, they will be in the middle of a new war. They should be trained as soon as possible, so that if they are in danger they can defend themselves. Not just our children, but all of them. I don't want Harry to fight in this at all. If I have my way, then he and the others will have no contact with the Dark Bastard or his followers whatsoever."

Hermione and Luna were by Harry's side and had the boy in a three-way hug. Harry himself had hard eyes, but John knew how hard this was on the lad. They had moved quite a bit faster than he had anticipated, but the sooner this threat was dealt with, the sooner Harry could go and lead a somewhat normal life. Though, looking at the boy that was comforted by two girls, he thought that normal was maybe not in the cards for him.

After the others had left, although Hermione and Luna threw a lingering sad look at him before they left, Harry was alone with John. The elder smiled and patted the chair next to him. Harry settled down and John opened their talk.

"I'm sorry about this, moving so fast, but the time was right."

Harry smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm okay. It's still some time before this all comes to happen."

John smiled, relieved. "Good. Don't bother yourself with it at this moment and enjoy your childhood. Leave the other stuff to me for now."

"Now what did you talk to Dumbledore about and why were the others with you?"

John chuckled. "Well the others were with me for two reasons. To project a broad front of parents, and I thought you kids would enjoy seeing us again. First, we talked to him about the giant dog he has in his school, that you kids had already run into it and that he needs to better his security if he intended to keep the beast around. He's probably still trying to undo your locking charm."

They shared a laugh at that. "Later I talked to him about your treatment at the hands of a certain potions master." He held up his hands. "Now I know you had told me already that he was in our camp, but it helps both him and us. He can keep up appearances and we keep undercover for a while."

He was silent for a moment. "The goblins couldn't tell me what had been in the vault, but they could tell me whose vault it was and that Dumbledore's man emptied it. Does the name Nicholas Flamel ring any bells?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Yeah. The best alchemist ever, the only one to produce the philosophers stone. I had always hoped to get to know him." It took a moment, then… "Are you telling me, that the philosophers stone is hidden in this castle?"

John nodded. "Yes, I contacted Flamel. It was not easy, but if you know who to write a letter to..." He shrugged. "He told me that he had given permission to Dumbledore to guard the stone, but he had not thought that he would hide it in a corridor in the school. He was a bit disappointed in his old friend. I told him that I had my best man at the school and that I would ask him to look out for it as well."

Harry grinned. "I will."

"Very good. Now I think that your friends are waiting for you outside and the guardians wait for me to go home. How about we join them?"

Harry nodded, but before they left the antechamber, he had one more question. "How did you get Professor McGonagall to let us use this chamber?"

"Oh I forgot, she's in on it as well. She will keep a look out for Dumbledore's machinations from within. I already gave her a mirror earlier." John winked at Harry and smiled.

Harry laughed as he went out the door into the Great Hall again. Xeno, the Grangers, Hermione and Luna were waiting on them. They could see the others in the entrance hall, chatting with their loved ones.

They said their goodbyes to their parents. Both Luna and Xeno cried as they hugged. They knew the children would be home for Christmas, but December was just too far away right now.

That night, Luna clambered into Hermione's bed. They shared Bob the Bunny, and neither could have said who drew more comfort from whom.

* * *

John had to think about the end of his chat with Dumbledore, a part he had not told Harry about. Because it would have troubled him and wouldn't be of any use in the future. He felt Harry contact him by thought.

'Yes son? I wouldn't have thought to hear from you so soon again.'

Harry's mental voice was slightly put out. 'I know your keeping something from me. We agreed early on that there would be no secrets, that you would tell me everything. Did you lie to me?'

John sighed. The kid was too perceptive for his own good. 'No, of course not.' There was resignation in his mental voice. 'But I thought I could spare you this one. It holds no importance to the future and it might trouble you for a while. Are you sure you want to know?'

Silence answered him.

'Very well, watch this memory." He opened up his memory of the conversation and felt Harry dive inside.

 _ **Harry found himself in the Headmasters office and viewed the memory from John's POV.**_

" _I am surprised, to see you here, Mr Potter. To be frank, I thought you were dead. I left Harry in the care of his relatives and it is imperative that he lives with the blood relations of his mother." Dumbledore put the tips of his fingers together._

" _Sadly that won't be possible any more. I got Harry out of there, five years ago. Just in time as it proved to be. His uncle snapped and killed his wife and then himself not three weeks after I had taken custody of Harry. He also beat his own son to within an inch of his life. The poor boy survived, but will require psychological attention for the rest of his existence." John gave the Headmaster a dark look._

 _Dumbledore looked shocked for a moment, but quickly caught himself. "If the boy is still alive, we should have him checked by a mind healer. He could live with you and I could weave the same protections on your proper..."_

 _The Headmaster was interrupted by the harsh laugh of John. "It's not going to happen one way or the other. The 'protections' you mentioned, were a simple blood ward. That can be set up on a lazy afternoon. You couldn't have found him in the last five years, even if you had tried. Now, it's a little late to start worrying about his wellbeing."_

 _Dumbledore tried again. "It is imperative that Harry is protected as best as we can. He could be one of the key players in the final demise of the Voldemort." He made it sound like he was sharing a great secret, one that came with a lot of responsibility._

 _John once more chuckled. "I know, and Harry knows as well."_

 _Never had anyone seen Albus Dumbledore as wide eyed as Harry saw him now. "The prophecy? You know of the prophecy?"_

 _John nodded. "We know that and more. All you need to now_ _ **headmaster**_ _, is that your_ _ **student**_ _is well protected, at least when he is not here. I don't think that a Cerberus that is barely locked in, fits any definition of safety whatsoever."_

" _I will check the lock on the door right after our chat, as I have promised. The responsible party will be talked to and I will impress on them that it is not to happen again."_

" _Very well headmaster. I hope you're doing this to safeguard what our friend Nicholas entrusted you with and will not use it as a bait for someone who could do with immortality and a new body."_

 _Dumbledore gasped. John turned to leave and left a parting shot. "Voldemort will fall and you have to decide. Will you fall with him?"_

 _Harry left the memory, he had seen enough._

'Dad? Did you had anything to do with the Dursley's fate?' Harry sounded neutral and John had promised to never lie to him.

'Yes.' He waited.

'Okay, I think they deserved it. I don't want to think it and I feel dirty that I do, but good riddance.'

John released a breath, he hadn't realized he was holding. 'I'm glad you don't think less of me for it. He had just broken your arm, again. I regretted doing it, but I never felt really bad about it.'

'I hope Dumbledore will get the point and keep out of our business. I doubt it though, he will now want to know more about us. About you especially.'

'Let him, let him research me and come up almost empty handed. He will drive himself up the wall trying to figure me out.' John gave a mental chuckle.

Harry was concerned. 'Yeah, but we have to be extra careful now. The girls will need protection from his legillimancy, can you teach us occlumency?'

'I can, but only when you're here over the holidays. I will figure something out to bridge the gap.'

'Okay thanks dad, I will go to sleep now. It's late again and I'm thankful it's Saturday tomorrow.'

'Goodnight then son, sleep tight.'

'Thanks, you too Dad.'

Both father and son slept reasonably well that night, even though Harry had one dream about blood covered Dursley's.

* * *

The weeks that followed the first allowed them to quickly fall into an easy routine. Potions was now bearable and Professor Snape wasn't quite as antagonizing as he would have been else wise. The Slytherins still believed Harry to be the reason for this. Harry knew that Snape simply didn't want to play the bad cop all the time any more.

Their History class was still unbearably dull, but Harry had brewed some Pepper Up potion and thus could stay awake in class. He would then later summarize and lighten up the information for his friends.

The rest of their classes progressed well and the trio was pretty much at the top in every subject. The only class someone beat them to it was Herbology. Here Neville was the unbeaten champion of the leader board.

Soon it was September 19th, Hermione's birthday.

* * *

Hermione awoke to the wonderful smell of flowers. She saw that someone had left a beautiful bouquet on her nightstand. Reading the note that was attached to them, she smiled. The flowers were from Harry and Luna, and they were waiting for the birthday girl in the common room. After throwing on her house coat, she stormed down to the common room and found her friends. They were waiting on her with a wonderfully decorated birthday cake. 'Happy 12th Birthday, Hermione' was written on it.

When Harry and Luna saw Hermione on the stairs they sang her 'Happy Birthday' and had her blow the candles on her cake. Hermione was so happy she was almost crying, it felt so good to have friends.

Luna had managed to get up extra early for her friend, but was still in her usual state of disarray. Her usually round, curious eyes were still half closed and her hair was still the frizzy mess it was every morning. Hermione vowed to ask the younger girl, how her hair smoothed itself out by the time breakfast was over. She never saw her use a brush.

They hugged her and Luna kissed her cheek, then she got an envelope pushed into her hand.

"You'll get your real gifts tonight, but we wanted to have something to give to you now." Harry grinned at her.

Hermione opened the envelope and found a fifty-galleon gift certificate for Flourish and Blott's. The card that came with the gift, was signed by her parents, John, Xeno, Harry, and Luna.

She was squealing in delight. "Ohhh...Thank you." She kissed their cheeks. "But...but that's too much. Fifty galleons is a lot of money, you shouldn't have gotten me anything else."

Luna grinned at her. "Just enjoy your gift."

"Yeah, with six people joining in, you wouldn't believe how fast we had the money together." Harry grinned at her as well.

Hermione tried a piece of her cake, which was made by Xeno, who seemed to have a hand for desserts. "It's delicious. Thank your father for me, will you Luna?"

"Oh, you can thank him yourself." Luna got a warning look from Harry, she had almost spoiled the surprise they had planned for later.

Hermione missed the byplay however. "Yes, you're right, I can call him on the mirror." She shot up to her dorm to call Xeno and get ready.

Harry turned to Luna. "That was close."

The younger girl smiled a bit sheepishly at him. "Sorry?"

Harry laughed. "No harm done." He hugged the young witch.

When Hermione came back down again, they headed to breakfast and their classes for the day.

* * *

That night before dinner, Harry dragged Hermione back up to their common room. Luna had already gone ahead and was waiting on them, with a second envelope in her hand.

She gave it to Hermione with a wide grin. In it was a signed permission slip to leave the school grounds.

"That's my name on it and the date is today!" Hermione exclaimed and already felt the tell-tale tingling of Harry teleporting her.

All three appeared in the living room of the Potter house, where the Grangers, Xeno and John were already waiting on them. As soon as they had arrived they shouted 'Surprise' and placed silly party hats on the heads of their children. Hermione was hugging her parents, then Xeno and John, and then her two friends. Thanking them over and over for the wonderful gift they had made her.

"Should we tell her now, that this isn't the actual present?" Luna whispered to Harry.

"No, that way the actual presents are going to surprise her even more." Harry chuckled.

They had a pleasant home cooked meal, prepared by John and Emma. Then delicious pudding, made by Xeno. Dan had put up the decorations in the living room. Neither of the Granger's had ever seen their daughter this happy before, she was basically whirling all over the living room.

As the clock chimed 9 pm, John cleared his throat. "I think it's time for presents now. You three have to head back soon."

There was nodding all around, only Hermione stood with her mouth open.

"I thought this was my present. To have my family for my birthday."

They noticed that she indicated all of them when she said family.

"No, there is more. Here!" John handed her a small package.

In it was a very old book. '1001 Charms to Mastery'. Hermione thanked him profusely, as the age of the book would probably make it quite valuable. He just told her that it could be useful to know more than the charms curriculum at Hogwarts would teach her.

Next came Xeno. He gave Hermione a copy of 'Introduction to wizarding society'. She thanked him as well and later found out that it was written by a muggleborn, that had married into a pureblood family.

Harry and Luna approached her afterwards and they gave her a book as well. This one was bound in soft leather and had 'Hermione Granger' embossed on the cover in a neat script.

"Luna and I made that for you." Harry grinned a bit sheepish. "Of course, Dad and Xeno helped us a lot. It's you own personal diary, journal, and grimoire if you want. It will never run out of pages and you have ten categories by which you can sort your entries."

He showed her a series of symbols. "You can change them as well, if you want. Dad did quite the number on the runes in this thing. Xeno also worked a lot of magic on it, he's really great with enchanting jewels." He indicated the small stones in the silver fittings.

"Luna helped a lot with the spells on the paper, she also left you an entry, so have I, and her recipe for pudding. I did the binding over the summer, but have left it here so John and Xeno could finish it. The silver was made on orders of King Ragnok himself and has goblin enchantments on it." He grinned at his friend, who was at a loss of words.

Hermione hugged her best friends, then hugged their parents as well. She was so touched, a few tears escaped her eyes.

Her parents went last. They handed her a small jewellery box and in it was a key. Hermione looked questioningly at Dan and Emma.

"There is a new room in our home, John added it. He and Xeno then helped us furnish it. It is a magic room, with a small potions lab for now. As you get older, we can add more to it. Now you have your own space to brew potions and Harry and Luna can come over and visit us a bit more often."

"Thank you!" The happy girl sprung her parents and hugged them tightly. "Can we go and take a look at it."

John looked at the clock. "A quick look then you should head back soon." He concentrated for a moment.

They all appeared in the Granger's back garden. Harry looked bewilderedly at his dad. "I thought with the ward this would be impossible."

John chuckled and Emma answered the question. "We decided that we trust you. John then added a teleportation zone to the ward. So every time you try and teleport into our house, you're forced to land in the back garden."

Dan led them all inside and stopped in front of a big book case. "The door is disguised; the lock is right inside this book." He took it from the case and opened it. Inside was a small key hole. Hermione placed her key inside and twisted, and with a small pop the wall opened behind the book case.

With a small pull on the case the door swung open to reveal a room, which was much bigger on the inside than the outside appeared. It was still mostly empty. At the far wall, was a small, but fairly well stocked potions lab. It had all the basic equipment and would serve her well for the next few years. She also knew if she needed better equipment, there was always Harry's lab for her to use.

Hermione thanked her parents once again and then voiced her concern. "This is too much. It must have cost a fortune to buy all the equipment and the brewing table."

Emma smiled at her daughter. "Not at all. Most of it came used from John and Xeno. We just had to buy things like spare cauldrons and ingredients. John did the exchanging for us and gave us from his Galleons, so we didn't have to pay any conversion rates."

John shrugged and smiled at the Granger's. "I needed pounds anyway, so you saved me the conversion as well. The table was left over from when we upgraded the lab, so no problem."

Dan picked up where his wife had left off. "We also want the added benefit of the potions in the house, so it was a two-way investment. One, we get potions like the one for warts and two you can study for your classes in the summer. So, it wasn't a hard decision to make."

They all laughed at that. Soon the children had to return to Hogwarts, and John and Xeno went back to the Potter home.

* * *

Soon Halloween had crept up on them. The trio enjoyed the decorations and enchanted jack-o'-lanterns. During lunch that day, they noted that Susan and Hannah were mysteriously absent. They asked Neville about her.

"Yes, I've seen Susan. About ten minutes ago. She left the hall as I entered it. I spoke to her for a moment, and she said that she got some food for Hannah. Apparently, Ron Weasley said something insulting about her and now she's in the toilet crying the whole time." He shook his head. "Anyway, Susan will stay with her now. She hopes they will be out in time for the feast tonight, but Hannah says she doesn't want to see the prat any more today. Can't say I blame her."

Neville looked at Ron Weasley at the Hufflepuff table, where he sat alone. Could have been his personality that kept the people away, or his table manners, one couldn't be sure.

Harry and Hermione nodded, while Luna opened the last of the chocolate frogs she had bought on the train.

"Bummer."

"What's the matter, Luna?" Hermione asked her.

The younger girl showed her the card inside the package, it was an Albus Dumbledore one. "Not Dumbledore again, I have about a thousand of him and no one wants to trade with me. All I need is Agrippa. I got all the others, my collection might never be complete."

Harry looked at her. "One day you will, I'm sure. For now, let's hope that Hannah calms down enough for the feast later."

Harry then wandlessly banished a boiled egg at the back of Ronald's head. It exploded on impact and the still liquid yolk ran down the boys back. He quickly turned around to catch the culprit, but found no one. He was cursing and shouting the entire time, until Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff, shouted at him and told him that she would dock 5 points for every profanity he shouted.

The fuming boy sat back down and was muttering under his breath the entire time. Hermione, Luna and Neville laughed. Harry just smiled, he would have liked to put Weasley in his place. In a different time, under different circumstances, he would have shown the little prick what exactly he thought of bullies.

They didn't see Susan or Hannah for the rest of the day and they were not around for the evening feast either.

Harry, Luna and Hermione were enjoying the food and the sweets, when Professor Quirell burst into the Hall, screaming bloody murder.

"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEONS!...TROLL!" He fainted. Harry could see that he didn't really faint, but that he was scared to an inch of his life.

The trio was halfway through the door, when Neville grabbed Harry's arm. "Hannah and Susan, they don't know about the troll."

Harry stopped dead. "Do you know where that bathroom is?" Neville nodded and Harry turned to the girls. "You go and tell a teacher and Neville and I will tell the girls about the troll. It's in the dungeons, so we should be okay. They should have dealt with it, by the time we get them to their common room."

Hermione and Luna wanted to object, wanted Harry to come with them, but they knew that he would never leave Hannah and Susan oblivious to this threat. After kissing his cheeks they ran to find a teacher.

Harry followed Neville to the third floor. They knocked on the bathroom door and got no answer.

"We're going to come in." Harry opened the door a bit and peeked inside. "Hannah? Susan?"

"We're here, you can come in."

They opened the door fully and saw the two girls sitting on a window sill. Hannah still had tears running down her face, her eyes were puffy and she looked miserable. Susan looked very angry and the boys didn't have to guess twice at whom the anger was directed. Harry hated bullies, and the red head had already joined the list.

"Quick, there's a troll in the school. We have to get you to your common room. The teachers are right now looking for it."

The girls looked shocked and quickly got up. Hannah calmed immediately and together they made their way to the door. Before they could leave though, a 12 foot high mountain troll blocked the door. It ambled in and set its sights on the children.

It raised its club for the first strike. Harry quickly pushed the girls out of the way and jumped to the side. The club missed him only by inches. He quickly pulled out his wand, but couldn't think of a spell to help him. Just as the troll lifted its club for the second time, Harry pushed his magic into the wand. His magic had no form, just the intention behind it. Harry wanted to stop the troll from hurting his friends. The magic manifested as a massive lightning bolt, just as Neville jumped in front of the girls to shield them with his body.

The troll was hit and thrown out the door again. Any sound it could have made was eclipsed by the thunder that followed. For a moment, everyone in the bathroom was blinded. The deafening sensation in their ears held on for a few minutes. The sound wave blew out all the windows in the room and the corridor leading to it.

Steam and smoke were raising from the prone form of the troll. Harry was panting heavy. The girls were looking at him and Neville with awe. Harry obviously was very powerful, but Neville had been ready to shield them and sacrifice himself. Susan knew at that moment that he was a true hero.

It was to this scene that Professors McGonagall, Quirell and Snape stormed in the room.

The deputy headmistress was the first to recover her bearings. "Mr Potter, what happened in here?"

"What!?" Harry almost shouted at her, he could barely hear anything.

They needed a quick trip to the infirmary, to get Professor Quirell checked out, who had wet himself and fainted for real this time. And to get the hearing of the children restored instantly. After Madam Pomfrey had cleared them, Professor McGonagall, who had been joined by Professor Sprout, tried again.

"You four explain to me what happened." She looked at them sternly.

Susan started with the explanation. "Hannah was crying, because Weasley insulted her after Charms class this morning. She had been practising the levitation charm over the last two weeks, until she could do it perfectly. Weasley failed, of course, and I'm sure he hadn't even tried it before. When she took pity on him and tried to help him, he sulked. After class, he made some derogative remarks about her that I don't want to repeat." She blushed a bit. "We were in the bathroom, the entire afternoon, as she was unable to calm down. She was not ready to face Weasley again so soon again."

"That fits what Ms Granger and Ms Lovegood told me." The professor turned to Harry and Neville.

"We were leaving the hall to go to the common room, when Neville reminded me that the girls don't know about the troll. We knew the troll was in the dungeons, or at least we thought it was." Harry took a deep breath. "I sent Luna and Hermione to get a professor and went with Neville to warn Hannah and Susan and accompany them to their common room. We were just about to leave the toilets, when the troll came in. We managed to duck the first swing and it was about to swing again, when I pulled my wand and used it. I didn't use a spell, it just happened. Then the troll was down and you came in."

McGonagall's lips were in such a tight line, they were barely visible. Then she released a long breath.

"Let us all be thankful that things turned out as good as they did. Ms Bones, Ms Abbott, you have done nothing wrong. It was good that you have good friends, or you might have been alone with that thing in there. You can go with Professor Sprout."

After the girls had hugged Harry and kissed Neville on the cheek, they left with their head of house. McGonagall turned to the boys again.

"You should have waited until you could have told a professor about it. It's our responsibility to deal with things like this." The professor gave them a stern look. "Alas, I'm happy you didn't. It would probably have been too late. I must take points off for your disrespect of the rules. You lose five points each. I must reward your quick action though, which undoubtedly saved lives tonight. Ten points to each of you. Now you go to bed, this day has already been too long."

She accompanied them to the portrait of the fat lady, who guarded Gryffindor tower. They entered and found Luna and Hermione waiting on them in the common room.

"Are you okay? Are you in trouble? How are Hannah and Susan?" Hermione had Harry in a death grip.

Luna smiled a bit at them. "Hermione let Harry breathe, so he can answer your question."

The boys quickly recounted the run in with the troll and the subsequent talk with McGonagall. Luna was fascinated.

"You shot lightning from your wand? That's cool, can you teach me how to?"

Hermione on the other hand had other concerns. "Ohh...that was a close call. You could have died, you could have been expelled. Don't think I will ever let you out of my sight again, Harry Potter."

Harry swallowed hard. "Yes, Hermione. And I don't think I can teach you Luna, I don't know how I did it."

Hermione smiled at him again, while Luna pouted. They all went to bed, too beat to do anything else that evening.

The next time they saw Ronald Weasley, he was scrubbing the floor of the entrance hall. He continued to do this every evening for two months. Harry was appeased for now, but he would keep an eye on the red headed moron.

* * *

It was two weeks later during breakfast, that Harry's owl Hedwig landed in front of Luna. She took the small package the owl held out to her. Upon opening it, she squealed in delight. Shouting "Agrippa, Agrippa" over and over again. She hugged Harry and placed lots of kisses on his cheeks.

At the same time, another voice shouted the word Agrippa as well. The red headed nightmare, aka Ronald Weasley, came to their table. He snatched the card form Luna's hand. Before he could blink, Harry had his wand under his chin.

"Give it back!" Harry's voice was quiet, but cutting.

Ron leaned backwards, to get the pressure away from his throat. "I didn't want to keep it, just look at it."

"Then you should have asked. You look with your eyes, idiot, not your hands. You have already joined my shit list Weasley, don't make things worse." Harry's eyes were unrelenting.

"But I collect them too and I need Ptolemy, and Agrippa as well, to be done."

Luna snatched her card back from the boy. "I'm done now, I've got all of them! How did you get it, Harry? It's one of the most rare cards ever." She hugged him again, while Ron sulked back to the Hufflepuff table.

"I found it for sale, a small shop in Diagon Alley advertised Chocolate frog cards. I wrote them and asked about this card. The owner said I was lucky and that he'd just gotten one in, and that he'd hold on to it for two days. I called John and he went to pick it up. I sent Hedwig home to pick it up and here we are." He grinned at his friend.

Harry was overjoyed to have made Luna so happy. The girl had a wide smile on her face for the entire day. She was so glad Harry and John had come into their lives. Her dad was much better now and had finally begun to enjoy life a little. The death of her mother had left a big hole in their hearts. A hole that could never be filled in, but her friends were good at building bridges over it.

Her family had grown much bigger than just her father and herself. She was really happy for that.

A/N2: Next time: Christmas


	8. Santa, a Rune and Awkward Pictures

A/N: This chapter I'd like to acknowledge the people that have added this story to their community archives, something I've neglected so far. Sorry, thank you guys, it really means a lot to me.

A big thank you again to everyone following and to all of you who have placed it in their favorites. Every time I get an e-Mail telling me that there is another follower, it motivates me to keep going.

A big thank you again to my beta, 'The Muse of Apollo', you are amazing. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read and correct my inane ramblings.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

The visit of Amelia Bones, after the news of the troll had reached her, was deserving of its own chapter in 'Hogwarts, a history'. The students, that were witness to it, swore that while Voldemort might fear Dumbledore, Dumbledore certainly feared Amelia Bones. They also learned a lot of new words, that shouldn't be in the vocabulary of children or young adults.

John and the other parents had given Dumbledore a piece of their mind as well, but Amelia's tongue lashing left scars on the reputation Dumbledore had built. Especially her threat that if something like this were to happen again, she would start an investigation on his person, personally.

That day, Harry, Hermione and Luna, as well as Susan and Neville, were given small pendants on leather bands by John, who told them that they would protect their minds for now. The pendants themselves were fashioned out of lapis lazuli, that, they were told, was in tune best with the human mind. The small discs were engraved with so many runes, there was hardly any stone left, and further spells were woven into the leather bands. Susan asked for another pendant for her friend Hannah, so her thoughts would be protected as well. John handed her one of the spares he had brought and gave the other to Harry, just in case he needed it.

In a quick conversation, Snape told John that Quirell had been on the third floor on Halloween. The spy had no proof yet, but suspected that the DADA professor might have an interest in possessing the stone. Snape promised John that he would keep an eye on the man for now.

John then took Harry aside and told him that the horcrux map was coming along nicely, but that defining the location was still difficult. He also told him that he was trying to tone down the sensitivity of the crystal pendant, so they could use it inside of Hogwarts. Finally, he cautioned Harry about Quirell and told him to be vary of the man.

"But he's afraid of his own shadow, I doubt he would be brave enough to risk a go at the stone."

John pondered that information for a moment. "Maybe he wouldn't by himself, maybe there is another factor in this. If there is, he's even more dangerous. It could be just simple greed and he is afraid of being found out. It could be Voldemort himself, but I don't want to see him in every shadow. I might not have the highest opinion of Dumbledore, but I doubt he would allow the man to teach here if Riddle held any sway over him."

Harry nodded. "I guess you're right, I'll keep an eye on him. Maybe he slips up."

"If you notice anything, or anything happens, tell me. I'll immediately come here to help."

They hugged and said their goodbyes. Soon it would be the Christmas holidays and they would finally head home to their families again.

* * *

It was two weeks until they would leave for home, when one night Luna crept into Hermione's bed. She had Robert the Valiant, aka Bob the Bunny, under her arm and Hermione noticed that she had been crying. Quietly she asked the younger girl about it.

"What's wrong Luna? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yes, it was horrible. I was so afraid."

Hermione shook herself fully awake. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Luna looked skeptical for a moment and then nodded. "Okay."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and retold the dream she just had. "We, that is you, Harry and I, got past the dog and through the trap door. We had to get over some more hurdles, I can only remember some sort of chess set, and lastly Harry had to go on alone, without us. He went into another room and fought Professor Quirell, who had a face growing out of the back of his head. In the end, some vapor went through Harry and it looked like he died. I thought he was dead."

Luna started crying again and Hermione embraced her. She held the crying girl for a few minutes.

"Hush Luna, it was just a dream. It hasn't happened." She smiled at Luna.

"But it felt so real, I had trouble shaking the dream off when I woke up."

After cuddling the distraught girl for a while and softly singing a lullaby into her ear, Luna calmed down and fell asleep again.

'Luckily that was just a dream.' Hermione thought. 'I...We couldn't bear loosing m...our Harry.'

With a smile, she also went back to sleep.

* * *

John and Xeno had a busy December, as they planned to make the _Quibbler_ a bi-monthly paper. Since John helped with the paper, they had gotten quite the load of new subscribers. A lot of people were interested in independent news.

A few young reporters worked for them, as they lacked the experience to work for the _Prophet_. They quickly found they liked the family-like atmosphere of the _Quibbler_ and stayed.

John had bought a small building for them just off Diagon alley. They had managed to get a second printing press, to keep up with the new subscriptions. January would be the first month the _Quibbler_ would come out twice and they only had three weeks to get everything ready for it.

Xeno as the publisher, was completely in his element and the random bouts of crying he was susceptible to, happened less and less. He was happy that John had made all of it possible and enjoyed his paper being a full-time job again. Not only that, but he was happy that if they continued to be successful, they might be able to bring out an issue every single week.

* * *

Ronald Weasley had gotten into trouble, because he had been sneaking out at night to duel with Draco Malfoy. Who, of course, had not only not shown up, but had tipped Mr Filch, the caretaker, off about Weasley being out of bed. As things were, he'd serve detention until a day before the Christmas holidays.

Professor Sprout had asked Molly Weasley to Hogwarts, to talk about her son's abysmal performance in class and the fact that he seemed to think the world revolved around him.

One day later Ronald received a howler, that had multiple students report to the infirmary. They had been sitting to close to the exploding letter and were now treated for bleeding ears.

It was a full week later that Molly embarrassed her son again in front of the entire Great Hall. She entered during breakfast time. The first thing she did was shout at him, which led to more cases of bleeding ears. Then she hugged him to her bosom, took a handkerchief from her pocket, wet it with spittle and rubbed some dirt from her son's cheek.

After she had cooed over him for a while, much to the amusement of the other students, she took him by the arm and dragged him up to the teachers table. They then left with Professor Sprout toward her office.

Harry learned from Susan, that none of the 'Puffs could stand the git. He never did his assigned work and always thought someone would let him copy their work at the last minute. This was against the entire Hufflepuff idea, as they valued hard work and loyalty above everything.

Nobody should have known what had been spoken about in the teacher-parent meeting, but since the Weasley matriarch shouted at her son the whole way down to the entrance hall, pretty much every student knew.

Ronald Weasley, would likely fail the first year of Hogwarts and have to repeat it.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was having a very bad last week before Christmas. Ever since that blasted John Potter had stepped into the picture, his plans had started to fail. The Dursley's were dead, or rather would be in the case of their son. Harry had not befriended Ronald, the youngest of Molly's brood and not even Ollivander could, or would, tell him anything about the lad's wand. Then he had blown a fully-grown mountain troll through a door way, with a bout of uncontrolled magic that he, the almighty Dumbledore, himself would be hard pressed to manage, even with the right spell.

He had wanted to return the invisibility cloak he had...borrowed...from the boy's father, as a gift to Christmas, to have the young Potter indebted to him. He had unlocked and opened the closet that had held the item and just as he was about to pick the cloak up, it disintegrated to dust. Albus had to sit down for a moment afterwards. Then he had needed a very strong cup of tea.

Death's invisibility cloak...gone. Just like that, kaput. Crumbled to dust right before his eyes. With everything that had gone wrong so far, Albus hoped that Harry would at least face Tom sometime before the end of the year. He had been surprised when Quirinius had brought back Tom Riddle's essence to Hogwarts, but he'd immediately known how to use this for the advancement of his own plans.

Now everything was endangered, just because the uncle of the boy was not dead like everyone had thought. It was a silly oversight on his side, one he was surprised he'd made. Of course, Dumbledore had checked John Potter's files at the ministry and at Hogwarts. He found the usual, birth certificate and paperwork. Other than that, the Potter's had kept their second son rather quiet.

He found that an acceptance letter had been sent, but it was declined and the boy had gone to Ilvermorny in the US. He had asked for the OWL results and was shocked to find them exceptional, even better than those of John's brother, but try as he might he could not find anything else on him.

Dumbledore even vaguely remembered that Charles and Dorea Potter had told him that John would much rather travel the world instead of settling down in the UK.

Albus was so lost in thought that he simply ordered a house elf to clean the closet, where the cloak had been. Had he taken the time to sift through the pile of dust, he would have found a black feather and a card. On it in a neat, but somewhat lifeless script, a warning was written.

 _The gift you took is now returned. Everything comes at a price. Soon it is your turn to pay._

But the elf banished the entire pile and the warning was lost.

* * *

The day before the trio took the train home, they felt elated. Their last essay was written and their last star chart marked out. They sat in the common room on one of the couches and relaxed with a cup of hot chocolate. Harry was in the middle and had one of the girls on either side of him.

Harry had been fiddling with the horcrux detection pendant a bit, when suddenly the glowing changed. It became less pronounced and the color changed to blue. Something had happened to change the amount of Voldemort's soul in the castle. Either one of the horcruxes had been destroyed or it had been removed from the castle. Harry hoped against all odds, that it was the former and not the later. Either way, he had to contact John.

He used the mirror, so the girls could hear John as well.

"Hey Harry, has something happened, do you need help?"

"Hi Dad. No, no help, but the pendant has changed today. It's blue now and the glowing is less intense."

"When did this happen?"

"A few moments ago..."

"So a horcrux has left Hogwarts a few moments ago? How's that possible?"

"I couldn't think of anything, but thought I'd let you know."

John's voice sounded strained. "Obviously someone carries it around. Or maybe someone is already possessed by one. If it's the former, that person would be influenced in the most horrible way possible. If it's the later, then we have no way to figure it out at the moment. That would be a Lord Voldermort with access to all the memories of his host. He was known to be a mastermind, so we better not underestimate him."

Harry was solemn. "I won't."

"I just had an idea. Hold on while I verify something." With that John cut the connection.

Five minutes later, they were back on the mirror with him.

"It's as I thought, a few teachers have left the school today. Severus couldn't tell me who exactly left, but one he was certain about. Care to guess?"

The teens gasped. Hermione answered first, with the other two only seconds after her. "Quirell!"

"Correct you three. I don't want to build too much on suspicions here, but I'd say it's a good chance he could be in possession of a horcrux. Whether he knows it or not, I can't tell. It would have to be something he takes home with him."

Harry pondered this for a moment. "But if it's small enough to carry around, we might never find it."

"Think like a wizard for a moment. What's big enough that you can't move it magically?"

"Yeah you're right. I forgot about that for a moment." Harry replied sheepishly.

"I'll let Severus know to contact you when Quirell leaves the castle for an evening or day or something. You can then check the pendant. Then we'll know if he carries around the damn thing all the time."

They said their goodbyes after that and were happy that they would head home the next day.

* * *

The train ride home was an enjoyable experience. Draco Malfoy tried to get into their compartment, but was unable to get past Harry's locking charm. He had to leave again under the laughter of all six occupants, as Harry, Hermione and Luna shared with Neville, Susan and Hannah. They played games, read books and simply enjoyed the company of the others. Last week, since her mind was protected by John's pendant, they had brought Hannah into their confidence. She had been scared, but glad they had told her the truth about Voldemort and his horcruxes.

When they got off the train, all of their guardians were waiting on them, except for Hannah's. She would head home to the Bones residence, where her parents would pick her up. They all stood in a corner of the platform and chatted amicably with each other.

After a round of hugs and hellos, John took the three to the side. "Augusta, Neville's gran, just told us that this afternoon Alice, Neville's mom, broke out of her coma. She is semi-conscious and repeats the name of her son over and over. They now hope that him being present will break her out of it completely. Seemingly her last thoughts were with her son."

Harry wanted to run over to Neville and congratulate him on it, but John held him back. "He doesn't know yet. They'll go to St. Mungos right now, where Augusta will tell him. She also told me, that this good news had to be celebrated and that she would reinstate the annual Longbottom New Year ball. We were invited, but I wanted to hear your opinion about it first. Your parents are the same." He said the last to the two girls.

Harry thought for a second. "I'd like to go." He turned to Hermione and Luna. "But only if you both come with us."

The girls both smiled at him and nodded.

John turned to Augusta, who raised a questioning eye brow at him. He nodded and she smiled in return. Turning back to the children, he looked at Hermione.

"Since the Granger's are not a wizarding family, you will attend as guests and under the protection of the Potter family." Then he looked at Luna. "The Lovegood's will receive their own invitation."

The children quickly said their goodbyes after that and went out in the muggle part of the station. They were half way to the van, that John had once more rented, when Harry asked John about Neville's father.

"Sadly, there has been no improvement so far. Honestly, I don't think it will happen anymore, but it's still too early to say for sure."

Harry nodded, somehow, he couldn't help but think he got it better than the other boy. At least he knew his parents were dead. Neville would might never receive closure for his parents.

* * *

The ride to their home was quiet and solemn. Once they had reached the Potter home, the Granger's packed Hermione's luggage in their own car. After a few teary-eyed goodbyes, they rode off to their own home.

Harry got to wandlessly levitate Luna's and his trunks up to their rooms. John, Xeno, and the children spent a nice evening with a light dinner and talking. They showed Harry and Luna their horcrux map and the kids were amazed at the self-updating device.

After John opened the horcrux box, it showed four rough locations. The dot marking each was as big as two cities. One big dot was right over Scotland and Harry could just make out 'Hogsmeade' roughly under the center of the dot.

"This is the Hogwarts horcrux." Harry stated. He moved his finger close to London. "And this represents these two."

John nodded. "Yes. It also shows us two other locations right now. I think the other locations are under wards and might need more fine tuning to be picked up at all. For now, these dots represent areas that are far too large to search. It still needs a lot of fine tuning; the rune work is murderous on these kinds of maps."

He then handed Harry a thick leather-bound book. "Here are my notes, I thought you might like the read. You can read them too Luna, as can Hermione. I've also looked at that stone for a while, but to no avail. It is an ordinary pebble, yet I can sense some very powerful magic in it. It doesn't react at all to me and remains completely inert."

John then shook his head. "I have given up on it for now, as there were more important things to do all the time." He smiled at them. "Has Dumbledore already asked you to his office?"

Harry shook his head.

"Be ready for it, once you return to Hogwarts." John smiled. "He will have a lot of questions I think. To be on the safe side, we will start your occlumency training tomorrow. Yes Hermione will join us."

They went to bed early that night. The train ride had worn Luna and Harry out, and Xeno and John thought that a good night's sleep would do them a world of good as well.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was a happy affair, especially after Luna had tackled the big bowl of pudding Xeno had made for them. About halfway through their meal, or in Luna's case, her bowl, Harry's mirror started vibrating. It was a feature John had recently added to the master rune slate, that controlled the mirrors and the network.

Harry saw, that Neville was calling him and answered.

"Hi Neville, what's up?"

"HARRY! My mom woke up, she even recognized me yesterday. The healers say it's going to take a while for her to relearn how to speak, walk and…stuff." Neville sounded excited and breathless. "My dad hasn't woken yet, but one of the healers has told me that he sometimes twitches. They say that maybe he will come around as well if he hears my mother's voice more often. I wanted to thank you and John for making this possible."

"It's okay Neville. As long as your mom has come around, it was all worth it. But remember to keep our involvement in this quiet."

"Of course, well we're going back to St. Mungos now, so I'll see you at our ball."

Harry smiled. "Sure Nev, have a great time." He broke the connection.

Luna smiled at him, her mouth was smeared with a bit of pudding. "I'm happy for Neville. He couldn't have gotten a better Christmas present."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he gets at least one parent back. Let's hope, that his father recovers as well."

* * *

It was a bit later in the morning when Harry picked up Hermione. She and Luna greeted with a hug, like they hadn't seen each other for a few weeks at least. John and Xeno soon joined them in the living room.

John opened up with an explanation. "Occlumency, is the art of hiding and defending your thoughts and emotions, from intruders. Legillimancy, allows someone to take thoughts and emotions from an unprotected mind."

Xeno took over. "We intend to teach you the very basics of occlumency over the break, but no one expects you to master it so quickly. It'll probably take years for you to..." Then his attention was drawn to a bird in the tree outside the house.

"To be able to defend against a master legillimancer." John finished for his distracted co-teacher. "The first step is to have an organized mind. Now that doesn't mean you have to colour code and label everything, although you can do that. It just means you must know your mind inside and out. Harry, I expect your perfect memory to help you with that."

"First, to clear your mind of all conscious thought, we will have you meditate. Best to do this before bed and right after waking up. Once you're able to clear your mind fast, you have the first defense against any legillimancer."

They spent a few minutes getting comfortable and then entering a light trance. Luna found this part to be incredible easy, while Hermione and Harry had to fight with their hyperactive minds. They were constantly trying to analyze everything. Luna on the other hand was much more accepting of the world as it was.

After all three of the children could hold a meditative trance over ten minutes, John was satisfied and told them to practice this every day.

When their practice for the day was over, the kids sat in the comfortable furniture of the Potter living room and relaxed. Sometime during their chat, Hermione asked Luna how she managed her hair in the mornings.

"Ohh I brush it in the evenings, with an enchanted brush that once belonged to my mommy. The passive magic remains in my hair and straightens it out in the morning." Luna's round eyes were on Hermione's and the older girl sighed.

"Oh..okay...I had thought you maybe knew a spell or a potion, but an enchanted brush...you wouldn't know where one can buy something like that, would you?"

"It's a family heirloom, so no...sorry."

Hermione gave Luna a sad smile. "It's no problem. Thank you anyway."

Harry's mind went into overdrive. He would have to talk to Luna and John later, once Hermione had gone home for the night.

* * *

The children practiced their meditation every day and soon Christmas Eve rolled around. John had invited the Granger's to the Potter house till Boxing day and they gladly accepted. Dan and Emma stayed in the guest room, while Hermione stayed in her room.

Harry, Luna and Hermione practiced their potions skills and made a potion that filled the entire living room with multi-colored bubbles. It looked like someone had hung Christmas ornaments into the air. Luna had somehow managed to attract a bunch of fairies that chose to stay in their Christmas tree.

They all had a good laugh when Xeno levitated a mistletoe over Harry. The embarrassed boy, was promptly kissed on the cheek by Luna, Hermione and Emma. He blushed a deep crimson, much to the amusement of the adults. They also noticed that while they were smiling along, the girls had a slight blush on their cheeks as well.

Before they went to bed that night, Luna laid mince pies and sherry out. She then hung three stockings on the mantle of the fireplace. Turning around, she found Harry and Hermione looking at her incredulously.

"What? Santa's coming tonight. He's going to love the pies and sherry and will fill our stockings accordingly."

The other two, who had done a fair bit of growing up in the muggle world, shared a look and silently agreed that now was not the time to destroy her beliefs. They hugged her and thanked her for getting stockings with their names on them. She just smiled at them and told them that it was no big deal, but she reveled in the sensation of the group hug. Luna would never get enough of that.

They all woke up early on Christmas day and were giddy to get at their presents. It took until 8 o'clock that morning before their patience broke and they woke their parents. Soon it was three hyper kids and four sleepy and groggy adults that sat around the tree in the living room.

There was a remarkably big pile of presents under the pine and, to Harry's and Hermione's eternal wonderment, wooden toys and sweets that had been stuffed into the stockings. Harry threw a look at John and Xeno, who both shook their heads. They hadn't put anything inside. The Granger's also denied having anything to do with it.

"Even with everything I know, and all the information I have access to, the universe still manages to surprise me every once in a while. So, don't be too surprised when it happens to you too." John whispered to Harry.

For once, Harry behaved like a genuine eleven year old, smiled broadly and enjoyed a piece of chocolate before breakfast.

* * *

Once everyone had woken up enough to function properly, they started digging through the big pile of presents.

The children went first and exchanged their gifts. Harry got two presents and handed one to each of the girls. In each was a charm bracelet, that each, with the exception of one, had different charms on them. The charm that both had received was circular and had all three of their names engraved on one side and the words 'BEST FRIENDS FOREVER' on the other. The Goblins had been kind enough to make them for Harry.

Luna's bracelet also had charms of diverse magical animals on them. A unicorn and hippogriff were right next to a phoenix and griffin. Hermione's featured several of her favorite items. There was a book and a wand, as well as a cauldron and a witches hat. Emma was taken by the thought Harry had put into the gift, while Dan and Xeno were amazed at the craftsmanship that went into it.

Harry's gifts earned him squeals from both girls as well as hugs and kisses on the cheeks. The parents all looked at each other and smiled at the antics of their kids.

Harry received his fist gift from Hermione, she handed him and Luna a book shaped packet each. Under the wrapping paper, he found a book, like he had never seen before. He recognized that the book was written in parseltounge.

"How?" Harry was flabbergasted.

Hermione blushed a little. "You showed me parseltounge runes a while back and while I was browsing in a used book shop, well I found that one and it looked like the writing you showed me. The shopkeeper didn't know what it was and I thought you might be able to read it."

"Yes I can, it seems to be about parselmagic. Thank you." Harry hugged his friend and right in that moment they were distracted by a squeal on their other side.

Luna had just unwrapped her book and was obviously pleased with her gift. It was a tome that spoke about the diverse theories some researchers had concerning possibly hidden magical species. She hugged Hermione and kissed her cheeks as well, which left her friend fairly red faced. Xeno also threw a curious glance over the shoulder of his daughter.

The younger girl then got to go last. She quickly handed both her friends a present each, that was wrapped in bright pink paper. Hermione opened hers first and was surprised by its content. It was a small book, about as large as her thumbnail.

"Luna? How shall I read it? It's so tiny!"

Luna smacked her palm against her forehead. "I shrunk it so it would fit in the box, I guess I overdid the charm a little. It's actually quite a large tome."

Hermione took out her wand to perform the counter charm and was surprised by the actual size of the book, that now was difficult to hold using both hands. On its cover, the words 'The complete and unabridged history of Hogwarts' were written.

"Oh yes!" Hermione was very happy about the find Luna had made. "How did you get it? Everywhere I asked it was sold out!"

"Daddy helped me find it, one of his contacts from the newspaper was able to get it for me." Luna looked like a smug kitten.

Hermione quickly hugged her friend, after placing down the gigantic book in her hands.

Harry then opened his gift from Luna. It was a handwritten book, titled 'The Potter Family History'. He gasped and looked at his friend with wonder.

"How did you get that? Dad have a look at it!" He handed then book to John, who looked at it wide eyed.

"Yes, how Luna? It was a family secret, or at least it was supposed to be one. Each and everyone of the Potter's added their own part to it. Well everyone but me that is. It was lost after that fateful Halloween and I never got to write into it."

Luna looked even more like a smug cat this time. "Daddy's contact found it on the black market. It seems someone stole it form your home after the death of your parents. Then it circulated through the hands of several collectors. He was able to buy it from the person that had it in their possession and gave it to me. I thought it would make a great gift."

Instead of answering, Harry just hugged her and held her long and tight. After a few more moments, he wiped tears from his eyes and turned back to the pile of presents, while John was talking to Xeno in hushed tones.

Harry quickly started distributing the packets according to their name tag. And after they had all been sorted into piles, they started unwrapping. Amelia Bones had given all of them, but the elder Granger's, an auror grade wand holster. Dan and Emma were most surprised about their gift. For each, it was a license to carry a small firearm and a small pistol, like the one James Bond had in the movies.

In the letter that came with it, Amelia stated that they would need something to defend themselves with, as they couldn't use a wand. The licenses were registered with the government as were the guns. She asked them to practice their shooting and only use them in case of an emergency. It was a present that was soon locked into a safe box by John, so no one would accidentally be hurt.

Augusta sent them their invitations along with a small box of delectable truffle chocolates, spirit infused for the adults and non-alcoholic for the children. Neville sent his friends a box of their favorite kind of sweets. Hermione got a big box of Bertie Bott's Beans, Harry a box of licorice wands and Luna enjoyed the box of chocolate frogs that advertised new collectible cards on the outside.

All of the parents had one joined gift, that was the same for each of the children and one individual present, that they gave to their own. They had some trouble choosing a gift for them at first, but with safety being a concern they had gone in that direction. The Granger's had at first frowned at the idea of a dragon hide vest, but after John had likened it to an ultra thin bulletproof vest, they had quickly agreed.

They had gotten the youths a voucher each to get them outfitted with a vest at a shop in Diagon Alley. A friend of Xeno's had supplied the finest hide they had ever seen, John had gotten acromantula silk of a particularly fine specimen, and Dan and Emma would pay for the fitting. The vests would fit under any clothing they would wear and protect them from anything that was not an unforgivable.

The kids then got the presents out that they had bought or made for their parents. Hermione had bought a lot of ingredients and, with Harry's help, brewed an entire set of home remedies for basic aliments. Luna had, with help from Emma, bought new shirts and tie-dyed them. Xeno was extremely happy, as he had been searching for shirts like that, ever since he had bought the first one in a second-hand store. Harry had gotten John a new set of rune cutting chisels as his old ones were pretty run down.

Finally, there were only three presents left, one for each of the kids. Hermione got to unwrap her gift first. She received a book from her parents that came with a basic set, of what she now recognized as rune carving chisels. It was 'A beginner's guide to runes and rune carving' that promised to teach the reader an entirely different way of doing magic.

Runes would only be taught in Hogwarts from third year up and all three of them had already resolved to take the subject. That she could now start experimenting with them, after she had seen the beautiful things John had made with them, made her very happy. As she hugged her parents in thanks, they also told her that they had added a small workbench to her special room and had restocked the potion supplies in it. This elicited a squeal of delight from the young girl.

Luna got to go next. She unwrapped the big box in front of her and, with a bit of disappointment, picked up the lone piece of paper at the bottom of it. Her mood changed immediately after she had read the note, Xeno had placed in the box. It read:

 _My dearest darling daughter,_

 _I wanted to give you all my love for Christmas, but the biggest box I found was still too small. Luckily you can refill it anytime you find it empty. I also managed to smuggle my pudding recipe to the house elves inside Hogwarts and asked them to add it to the menu after Christmas. They were happy to have something new and agreed to serve it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner._

 _Your real present is up in your room by now. He's got no name as of yet and I know you will take good care of him._

 _Your loving Dad._

Luna hugged her father with tears in her eyes. She thanked him and shot up the stairs. When she returned a minute later, she had a kneazel kitten cradled in her hands. The tiny creature looked up and yawned at them, then it gave a cute, high pitched, mewl. Hermione and Emma were immediately by Luna's side and started to coo over the kitten and petted the tufts of fur on its pointy ears. The small being simply soaked up the attention.

After the commotion had died down, it was Harry's turn to unwrap his present from John. It was fairly small and had no overbearing decorations to it. Once Harry had it unwrapped and had taken a closer look at it, he started crying and hugged the man he now called his father. Everybody got teary eyed when they saw the gift.

A wooden board on which two brass plaques had been fastened. Over each plaque there was a small carved picture. Lilly and James Potter were smiling from the picture at whoever happened to look at it. Under the respective plaque was the wand of the person above it. It was a gift that had cost no money, but it was easily one of the most precious Harry had ever received.

"Amelia has released them from evidence and I was able to claim them. I thought you would like to have them." John's voice was soft and gentle.

"Yes, thank you, thank you so much." Harry looked up at his dad and tears of joy and sorrow rolled over his cheeks unashamedly.

After everyone had calmed down again, it was time for breakfast. John and Emma went to the kitchen to prepare everything. Xeno started a batch of pudding and Dan went to set the table. The children were left in the living room, where Luna and Hermione were currently hugging Harry.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione was concerned, as she had seldom seen her friend this quiet.

Harry smiled at her. "Yeah, it's just getting their wands...it's both...the best and the worst thing ever." His smile grew watery again, as tears made their way down his face. "It makes me so happy and so sad at the same time. It's great to have something from them, especially something as personal as their wands. But it's so saddening, because I wish they could be here and celebrate with me. John's great, and he's never tried to, but he can't replace them."

A crying, but smiling, Luna, related to Harry's problematic feelings. "It's the same for me with my mom. Dad's great, but the connection I had with her was fantastic. I can talk to everything with daddy and he has...a unique point of view for me. With mommy, I could talk about everything and every time she made me feel better. She was just so compassionate and smart, always tried to help."

Harry and Luna hugged each other, feeling the loss they each had suffered. Hermione hugged them both and tried to offer comfort as good as she could. She hadn't noticed, but she had started crying as well. Once the adults called for breakfast, the sorrow had left the children again and some Christmas spirit could seep back in.

They enjoyed hot chocolate with cinnamon and gingerbread flavored pudding and, like most times when they ate Xeno's desserts, their moods improved radically. By the time they were done with breakfast, they were laughing and joking, as if they had never been crying.

John had, after he had witnessed the effect of the pudding, asked Xeno if he put cheering potions into it. The other man had just chuckled at him.

"No. You need no other ingredients but love and laughter. Well...flour and milk...and eggs...they probably won't hurt either. But if you pour all your joy and happiness into what you are making, people taste that and it makes them feel better." He had finished grinning broadly and had stirred the bowl extra thoroughly.

Now John watched once more in amazement, as the children made their transformation and was glad that he had invited the Lovegood's to stay. It was an arrangement neither him nor Xeno wanted to change anytime soon. Sometimes he even asked himself if the Granger's would join them as well.

* * *

That day when they all sat down for Christmas dinner, John raised his glass.

"Let me tell you that it's a real pleasure to have you all for Christmas. I'm proud to say, that the Granger's and Lovegood's have become very good friends to the Potter's. Dan, Emma, and Xeno, I'm glad that our children have become the best of friends. Without them, who knew what would have become of any of us. These three are our future, a future I intend to keep safe, and I know I'll have your help doing it."

He toasted everyone around the table and let his eyes linger a moment longer on the children. "All three of you are extraordinary youths. Not only because of your power, insight and intellect, but even more importantly because of your heart, soul and open mindedness. Stay as you are now, while you grow up and you will be on a very good path for the rest of your life."

Everyone raised their glasses to that and they started to tuck in. They all complemented Emma for the feast, as she had shooed everyone from the kitchen about halfway through the preparation and had finished the cooking herself. Only Xeno had been allowed back in to finish dessert.

They all stayed up late into the night and chatted, laughed and had a generally fun time. Games were played and carols were sung. The kids had a great time and for once, nobody thought of the Dark Lord. Not one spared a thought for Albus Dumbledore and his manipulations and no one would have even thought to think of Ronald Weasley.

* * *

Ron was beside himself with anger and grief. Besides his parents, no one had thought to buy him a Christmas present...not even his twin brothers had given him a prank present. That night as he sat there with his maroon sweater (ohh...how he hated that color) he couldn't help but think that somewhere something had gone horribly wrong.

He thought back to the visit from Dumbledore, a bit before the school was about to start. Ron remembered the man telling him, that in no time he would be friends with Harry Potter and that he needn't worry about school so much then. Now he was a Hufflepuff and would probably fail first year. Well at least there was a feast tonight and the world always looked friendlier if you had a well filled stomach. And maybe Dumbledore's plan would come together soon, the man was the greatest wizard since Merlin after all.

* * *

Boxing day was quieter affair than Christmas day. Everybody just relaxed and did what they wanted to do. Hermione practiced drawing runes on paper with charged ink and then activate them to see if they would do anything. Harry was leisurely reading through the notes John had made on the map creation. Luna was playing with her kneazle, William the fortuitous, or Bill for short. Bill was soaking up the attention that was showered on him and simply enjoyed himself.

Dan and Emma took till noon to get out of bed and were fairly red faced when they did. The kids thought they were embarrassed about having a lie in. Their embarrassed looks were joined by huge smiles every time their eyes met.

Xeno was helping John fine tune the map, when suddenly the dots disappeared altogether.

"Stop, undo whatever you've just done." John said to him.

Xeno changed the rune back to what it originally was, or rather to what he thought it originally was. He messed up slightly, forgetting a line and adding another that wasn't there before.

"What the…?" John gasped from the other side.

"What is it?" Xeno asked from behind the map.

"Come here and take a look."

Xeno walked to the front of the map and couldn't believe what he was seeing. The dots were back, but the Hogwarts one was smaller, more precisely placed. The unknown two were still a lot bigger, but the size had considerably gone down. John opened the box he had gotten from Ragnok and two more dots appeared side by side, directly over where their house would be.

"HAHAHAhahaha..." John clapped his hand on Xeno's shoulder. "I don't know what you have done, but it's done the trick. We're one step closer to finding them now." Then he hugged the surprised man and lifted him off his feet.

Xeno just smiled a bit confusedly. Harry who had heard the commotion, came in followed by the girls.

"What's happening here?" He asked a bit surprised, as he had seldom seen his dad this overjoyed.

John set Xeno back down on the floor and pointed at the map. "I don't know what this brilliant lunatic did, but it's done the trick. Look at the map, look at it!"

Harry turned and was surprised at the detail he found. "How? How did you do that?"

Xeno still stood there and hardly knew what was happening. He just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. It seemed apt to him.

Harry in the meantime studied the runes on the back and cross-referenced them with the book he still held. "Here this one is different!"

John basically teleported to the other side of the map and studied the rune Xeno had replaced.

"Congratulations Xeno." John was smiling widely at the man.

"Did I win anything?" Xeno was in his own world for now.

"You my friend might have discovered or rediscovered a rune that doesn't exist in the collective human memory of the last thousand years. It seemingly has no meaning on its own, but apparently influences the rune directly before it. Well done!" John was laughing again.

John then tinkered with the pendant he had made for himself. He opened the box and held the pendant close to the horcruxes. Usually the pendant would have glowed brightly, just from being in the same room as the horcruxes, or even the same house. But now the glow dimmed noticeably as John moved it away from them and it glowed brightest once it was directly over the open box. He moved away from the open box and as he reached the door, the glow was down to about half its previous intensity.

John left the work space and moved as far away from the horcruxes as he could while staying inside the house. He was now about twice as far away from the box and the glow had halved once again, it glowed now at about a quarter of its full intensity.

"I can work with that." John was grinning like a mad man as he made his way down to the work space again.

"So I guess this is good?" Harry asked, as John entered the underground room.

"Very good. I can craft a new type of pendant now. It'll allow me to roughly locate the horcrux and then precisely determine its hiding spot. Combined with the progress on the map and a bit of research we still have to do on Riddle himself, I'd say we can start the search for them sometime around the summer break."

They all celebrated the progress they had made that day and John invited them out for dinner. It should have been impossible to get a table in such a fancy restaurant on such short notice. But John knew they owned shares in it and the manager reacted to the name Potter. They got a private table that was set aside for VIP customers and a personal waiter for the night. Dan and Emma were impressed, usually John never flaunted their wealth.

The manager was less than impressed by Xeno's style of dress, but since the Potter's owned the majority of their shares, she didn't say anything and her disapproving glances only lasted a second. Then she was all smiles and didn't leave any wishes unfulfilled that night. John didn't hesitate to have the waiters serve them the best food the restaurant offered and afterwards quietly went to pay the bill.

That night as the Potter's, Lovegood's and Granger's went to bed, they felt a sense of completeness and belonging that not one of them could have explained when asked. They just felt like one big family. Hermione and Luna decided around the same time to sneak to Harry's room and cuddle into him to sleep. They met in the hall right before his door and had to stifle the giggles that wanted to escape them.

Upon entering the room, they saw that Harry was also still awake and engrossed in the leather-bound book that John had given him. He looked up and smiled at them. Wordlessly he placed his hands on his bed and it grew in size. The girls slipped into bed with him and he flicked his hand at the light switch. As they lay there in the dark, cuddling into each other, they felt that this was right. Luna stretched her hand over Harry's belly and interlinked her fingers with Hermione.

'It's perfect like this!' This was her last thought before falling asleep.

'Weird to hold a girl's hand like that, or well it would be if this wasn't Luna.' Hermione smiled as that thought crossed her mind.

Harry simply enjoyed the feeling of love he got from both the girls. They were family, no matter what. He wanted to fall asleep like this always.

The next morning Xeno, Dan and Emma looked into their kid's rooms, only to find them empty. They found John standing in the hall, looking into Harry's room, wearing a wide smile. The other parents looked in over his shoulders.

Emma was the first to react to the children, that were cuddled up in the bed. "Awww...I'll get the camera."

The men chuckled at that.

Harry, Hermione and Luna were woken by the flash of a camera and they knew they would never live this down. Despite being a bit embarrassed by their parents, they wouldn't have changed anything. The comforting feeling from the other two was just too good to miss.

* * *

A/N2: Next time New Year Ball at the Longbottom's.

Fast Frank:

Since I couldn't reply to your review in a PM...Nargel is actually the way they are spelled in German, so it's a nargle, they're the same creature. Back when I wrote that I didn't have my great beta watching out for this kind of mistakes.

Hope this helps.

Thanks to everyone that has left a guest review so far, well most of you anyway.


	9. Wooden Breasts, fancy Dresses and a Book

A/N: This chapter took more than a month to get done. Sorry guys and a big thank you to the ones of you that are still here. With house renovations going on and my job eating me alive at the moment, I hardly find the time to really sit down and type for a straight hour.

With the lack of updates in the last month it's amazing that some people continue to find this story, so a special thank you to everyone who has joined in over the last month.

A big thank you as always to all the people who are following and who have added this to their favorites and their community archives.

The biggest thank you goes to my beta, The Muse of Apollo, who once again has had to fight his way through my ramblings and mutterings to get a somewhat readable story out to you.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

On Friday, John and Xeno were away preparing one thing or the other for the newest issue of the Quibbler. Harry, Luna and Hermione spent the time at the Granger's house, as Emma and Dan had taken the day off.

On Saturday, they all went into Diagon Alley to get their formal wear for the ball. John led them to a secluded shop, where the sign above the door told them it was 'Anderton's Finest Twines – Formal wear for all occasions'.

John knocked on the door and a middle-aged woman, who introduced herself as Elizabeth Anderton, welcomed them in.

They were asked what occasion they would need their dresses and suits for. Upon being told that the clothing would be for the Longbottom Ball, Mrs. Anderton's eyes started glowing and her face sprouted a beautiful smile.

"How wonderful, I thought I'd never see the day that the Longbottom New Year Ball would be revived. It certainly is time to leave the shadows of the past behind and live our life to the fullest."

Mrs. Anderton then beckoned the girls and Emma to follow her. The men and Harry were left in the capable hands of her eldest daughter. Then the men waited...for quite some time.

As the girls left the separate room about two hours later, they found Harry, Dan and John playing a quiet game of cards. Xeno had fallen asleep in one of the comfy chairs. John allowed the conjured cards to disappear and Xeno was nudged awake by his daughter. They were told to pick up their order on Monday.

Even under the most persistent asking and begging from the men, Hermione, Luna and Emma didn't tell what kind of dresses they would be wearing, just that Mrs. Anderton would make sure they all would fit together well.

* * *

They made a stop at Gringotts and the Lovegood's went to visit their vault. The Granger's went to a teller to ask about opening a vault for Hermione. Harry and John went to speak with Gutslitter and they were led along the same route as every time they had visited the Potter account manager so far.

At the security desk Harry went to check in his wand, but the wayward piece of wood gave the goblin guard on duty a mild shock as he tried to touch it. It left all three of them shocked, even though only the goblin had been electrified.

"It...it never did that before." Harry stammered.

Finally, after what seemed like the tenth try and the shocks had grown to muscle spasm proportions, they concluded that the wand didn't want to be touch by anyone but Harry. The guard held a box open for him to place it inside and then had Harry stow the box under his desk, just to be sure.

Seeing the face of a shell-shocked goblin was funny and so Harry had some trouble holding his laughter in. Laughing at a proud member of the goblin nation would probably not help their standing in the bank. As they continued on their way, Harry asked John about the wands strange behavior.

"I don't know for sure, but I suspect that your wand doesn't want to be used by anyone else. Everybody that will try, will probably receive the same treatment as that guard back there."

Harry thought about that for a moment and shook his head in confusion.

"I don't get it, it has never done this before."

But as he continued alongside John, he had to admit that it felt right, in a very strange kind of way.

In Gutslitter's office, they found the next surprise was already waiting on them. Ragnok was there together with the Potter account manager. John and Harry bowed to the king and greeted Gutslitter with a handshake. Ragnok then opened up the conversation.

"I hope that you had a pleasant Christmas feast. I'm here today, to pass on a message."

He focused on John. "We had already talked about this before and it seems to happen. Sometime next summer, there will likely be a feast held in your honor. During this feast, you will receive the status of friends to our nation. You will be required to swear a small oath and bring forth a gift. I'm warning you ahead of time...better start thinking about these gifts right now. They should symbolize your value to us, the things you bring to our nation and the knowledge we receive by being your friends."

John bowed again to the goblin leader.

"You honor us King Ragnok. We'll be glad to start working on the gifts we'll present right now, thank you."

Ragnok smiled. This man had manners and honor. He was a foreign king and held no sway over them, but the Potters had always treated him and his subjects with respect. The parents of the boy and their parents before them had been no exception to this. The boy's uncle however had an air about him, like the old times. Times where the goblin nation was still glorious and lived together with the humans. That was before they had wrought war with each other for the better part of the past three centuries.

"I expected nothing less. I like you and want you to succeed. It's however not only me that needs to be convinced, you must convince the goblin elders. I warn you, because most of them have still seen the last war between our races. It will be hard to get them on your side."

John was smiling back at the king. "Then our very best shall not be good enough, we will try to surpass ourselves with our gifts."

Ragnok laughed. "Very well. I have to be going, I look forward to meeting you again."

The King left the room and Gutslitter turned to John. "I have here what you requested from the vault John."

He handed John a box. "Thank you."

Harry was curious. "What's that?"

John chuckled. "Can you keep a secret from Emma, Hermione and Luna?"

Harry nodded and John gave him the box. Upon opening it, a sheen fell on his face. "Wow!" He breathed.

Inside the box was a collection of beautiful jewelry. He saw several sets of matching necklaces, earrings and rings. There were also many bracelets and anklets. The precious stones that were set in each piece of jewelry, were of a multitude of colors. The clear stones, Harry guessed those to be diamonds, were cut to such perfection that they broke the light and threw an entire rainbow back at the room.

"I want to lend some of this to the girls for the ball. I know we don't usually flaunt our wealth, but this is a social event in the wizarding world and I want to get this off on the right foot."

Harry thought about this for a moment and then nodded. "I think I know what you mean, it seems to me that people in the wizarding world mainly respect one thing, 'old money'."

John nodded. "Yes, that's a big part of it, but I also think the girls will enjoy this."

He chuckled and Harry smiled.

John then gave Gutslitter a quick update on the horcrux situation and the goblin gave him the details on the current holdings and transactions on the Potter portfolio. During the time that Harry had been in school, John had been talking a lot to the Potter account manager. Because of that their conversations were light in tone.

Once they had left the office of Gutslitter, Harry went to get his wand back. He had barely opened the box, when the wand jumped back into his hand and gave a little light show.

Harry laughed. "Missed me?"

John had to chuckle at that. The wand of his son was really something else. Dots connected in his mind and he quickly fought the urge to laugh out loud... now that was a suspicion he would keep to himself for now, but if he was right….

They met up with the others in the main hall of Gringotts and went to the dragonhide place that would make the vests for the children.

* * *

They entered the small shop that was in one of the many side alleys just off of Diagon. At first the smell was overpowering and at least Emma, Hermione and Xeno had to gag on first encounter with it. The man behind the counter was a muscled, broad shouldered man that looked to be in his seventies. With him being a wizard, that could mean that he was well over a hundred.

He had a scruff white beard and long white hair. His bare chest showed sagging skin and rippling muscles. The lower half of his body was clad in leather pants and a dragonhide apron. Behind the man, on the wall, was a wide variety of different needles, blades and hammers.

John went over to the man and they quickly exchanged words. Then the old man turned his eyes onto the children. His eyes were so pale, it was hard to tell which color they were originally. He looked at them long and hard, then turned his head to the back of the shop.

"MIA!"

A young woman came from the back and looked at the man, who easily could have been her great grandfather and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yes Gramps, what is it? How'll I ever get anything done if you call me every ten minutes?"

The man, who obviously was Mia's grandfather, just grunted and nodded in their direction. She spun around and saw them standing there. Mia took her hands from her hips and used them to cover her eyes for a second, looking mildly embarrassed.

They offered her warm smiles and told her that they were here to have Harry, Hermione and Luna outfitted for vests.

Mia looked them up and down and Harry noticed that her eyes were pale blue, but not quite as pale as her grandfathers. The young woman smiled at the children and gestured for them to follow her. She led them to a section of the shop, where heavy curtains were hung in a circle. After turning to them she blushed.

"You have to excuse my grandfather, he doesn't have the best social skills and I think that's slowly rubbing off on me. He hardly ever deals with people that are much younger than himself. I was surprised, when I saw him chat amicably with John, the first time he was here."

They noticed her blush intensified and her voice got a breathy quality as she mentioned Harry's dad. Mia cleared her throat and shook her head a little. If possible she looked even more embarrassed than before.

"I'm sorry, well...this..." She indicated the circular curtain. "This is our measuring system. We don't measure you in any traditional sense, we rather take a magical mold of your body. Adjusting dragonhide is extremely difficult. To make a vest from such a sturdy, and stubborn, material, you go about it like a cobbler. You need a model of what you are working around. So, this thing here will make us a wooden model of your torso." She smiled as she finished.

"Of course, as you are still young, we'll have to work with some tricks. Just so that you can adjust the vest as you grow. But you'll probably need a new one in a year, if not earlier."

Now, Mia was much more confident in the way she spoke and held herself. This was obviously a topic she was comfortable discussing. She quickly showed them how they had to position themselves inside, so that the model would be accurate in size and form. Mia showed them a model of her own torso and Harry blushed, even though he didn't quite know why he felt that embarrassed all of the sudden.

The model showed Mia's torso and while it didn't go into the smallest anatomical detail, it was enough to get a fair idea of her breasts. Harry felt something inside of him stir and try as he might couldn't tear his eyes from the wooden dummy. He was happy once they were done and could leave the room and the likeliness behind.

The girls had noticed Harry's embarrassed state and were undecided whether to be angry that he had basically stared at Mia's breasts the entire time or laugh at him, because he kept staring at a block of wood that had roughly the form of a naked woman. In the end, they decided to do neither, and so neither knew, that the other had basically thought the same.

John saw Harry's flushed face as he came from the back of the shop and wondered what could have embarrassed the lad in such a fashion. He decided that they would talk about it, once they had returned home.

* * *

They all decided to have a 'quick' peek into the book store down the small alley before heading home. They had never been in this shop before, but Harry immediately relaxed as he entered the familiar feel of a used book shop. He quickly moved through the aisles and scanned the titles as he moved past them. He found easily a hundred books he would have loved to read, but one spoke to him like no other.

It had no title printed on his spine and was locked in a glass case. The tome was quite old and radiated magic. Harry was almost mesmerized by the feel that the book gave off. He quickly got John to join him and after his dad had gotten the first good feel of it, he went and got a clerk.

"What's that book in that case over there?"

The young man smiled, he obviously liked the story he was about to tell.

"It's the most mysterious book we have here. No one has ever been able to open it, so we don't know what's written in it. We can only guess that it's powerful magic that is contained in this book. The feel it gives off is….quite different."

John and Harry both had to fight the urge to roll their eyes at the overly dramatic way the clerk told his story. John finally asked the important question.

"How much for it?"

The young man grinned. "It's not for sale."

John simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well you'll get it, if you can open it. That's the stipulation the owner of this shop placed on it."

John and Harry looked at each other and shrugged.

"Fine hand it over and we'll try it." They said at the same time.

The clerk, the name tag on his vest said James, just smiled broader and went to get the key for the case. The book had been here for over fifty years now, he was sure that that wouldn't change today.

He returned a few minutes later and opened the case then he handed the book to John. The old spirit that was the core of John's existence, expected a fight from the book and so he was extremely surprised as the book cover lifted with ease.

Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing at the ridiculous expression James now wore. It was a cross between shock and disbelief, and had a fair bit of 'I just wet myself' thrown in for good measure.

John meanwhile had started to leaf through the pages, only to find them empty.

"There is nothing written inside."

The young man shook himself from his stupor. "WHAT!"

He quickly took the book form John, to verify this, only to have the book shut on the fingers of his right hand. The quick succession of four loud snapping sounds, indicated that the fingers were all broken. James was screaming and tried to pry the book off his hand.

By now they had amassed quite a crowd and their friends had joined them again. Dan and Emma were shocked, and Xeno and Hermione were asking about the book, that currently looked like it was trying to eat the young employee's fingers. Luna was just smiling serenely while she reached out her senses to the book and tried to feel her way around it.

John touched the spine of the book and it immediately fell open again. The young man's fingers hung limply from his hand and the edges of the books pages had cut into his flesh as the book had squeezed itself shut. Xeno quickly pulled his wand and performed the magical variant of first aid and closed the cuts.

"For the broken bones, you'll have to get a professional to look at them. I'd recommend St. Mungos."

Someone seemed to have informed the owner of the shop, as he was frantically trying to get to them, shouting that 'he was the owner goddamnit'. Finally, he made his way over to them and didn't wait for anyone to offer an explanation. He demanded it.

"What's going on here? I demand an explanation!" He jabbed his index finger at his employee. "You tell me James, why are you making a spectacle of my store!"

The young man, who was still cradling his broken fingers, didn't offer an explanation, instead he threw up on his boss. Someone quickly took the poor guy to St. Mungos, while the owner of the book store was busy scourgifying himself. The lad didn't need to get fired on top of four broken fingers, his day was already bad enough. Once the older man had all the bile and semi-digested food removed from his fur cloak, he angrily turned to John, who was still holding the open book.

"WHAT. IS. THE. MEANING. OF. THIS!"

For the first time in years, Harry really had to think back to his uncle Vernon. The color of the man's face had gone past red and was now rapidly approaching purple, a color his uncle had managed almost daily. John, on the other hand, was impassive and had a calm expression on his face, almost as if things like this happened to him every day. And truth being told after dealing with horcruxes and dead ravens for a while...it was hard to surprise him anymore.

"Your clerk told us the lore of this book." He held it up and showed the empty pages inside. "How no one could open it and that it would go to the one that could." He shrugged. "I did, and because he wanted to look inside, he took it and the book decided to close on his hand. That's all that happened."

The enraged man thrust out his hand at John. "This book is my property and you'll give it back to me!"

"According to the clerk's story, it's now mine. But since I was willing to pay for it before, I still would buy it."

A wondrous transformation took place on the store owners face. The angry color drained out of it and a 'I will sell you anything' smile crept in.

"You are a customer...well this changes things. As for the price of that book...it's very old and valuable…."

"I don't think it's quite as valuable as it's made out to be. It's empty after all." John deadpanned the other man.

The proprietor, a second ago in full sales mode, now was stumbling over his words.

"But...it's old and rare and..."

"And empty!"

"Ehhh...for the low price of twenty galleons."

"I'll give you two for it...no more!" There was power behind John's words.

"Okay." The other man could hardly believe his own mouth, but knew he had to make the deal or else lose all credibility he had left.

John handed the two galleons over and together they all left the store. Once they were outside, Emma released a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding.

"That...was awkward. How did you get him to agree to your price?"

John smiled. "That wasn't me, but all of the other customers there. He couldn't not make the deal. Demanding twenty galleons for an empty book, no matter the age, is pretty far fetched. Two is basically already far too much."

"But there is something to that book, I saw you and Harry almost salivating over it." Dan interjected.

It was Luna that answered him. "It's highly magical. I can feel it radiate magic like nothing else I've ever seen before."

John nodded. "Which is the reason, why I wanted that book." He absentmindedly handed the book to Harry and as soon as the lads hand touched the cover, the book stopped broadcasting its power.

Luna smiled widely at the boy. "I think you broke it."

John took the book back from Harry, but the feeling didn't return. He gave it back to the boy and had him open it. Harry was surprised to find no resistance from the tome. Now, there were letters on the pages, and while they seemed to form words, it was no language they understood.

Harry groaned. "Why does stuff like that always happen around me?"

John looked around and noticed that there were quite a few people following them from the book store.

"Let's go home first, then we can take our time to study this thing."

They all agreed, and John and Harry quickly took them home.

* * *

They had spent all afternoon trying to find a common factor in the 'letters' that the book was written in, but to no avail. The characters also bore no resemblance to any type of writing system they had seen so far, though Xeno said they reminded him of the skulls he had seen in Mexico once. They were small, square and had a plethora of little lines in them. These lines looked like they formed star or floral patterns.

While the 'alphabet' had some repeating characters, it seemed to have a symbol for every kind of concept. This language seemed to have at least a million differentiated 'words' and they had no idea how to even start to comprehend this.

The book had to be hand written from its age alone, but the script was so neat it looked like it had been printed. Every line was exactly where it was supposed to be. No deviation, no variation.

* * *

It was late that night when they gave up for the day. Harry and Luna went immediately to their beds and John and Xeno shared a beer at the kitchen table. The Grangers had gone home after they had returned from the alley.

"How are you feeling about all of this Xeno?"

The other man looked up, a bit confused. "What do you mean? The book, the Quibbler or the possible love triangle, that, luckily, is still a bit ahead of us?"

'He's far more perceptive, than he appears to be. You have to give him credit for that.' John thought.

"Yes, all of that, and us barging into your lives. I came into yours and basically turned everything upside down."

Xeno gave a sad smile. "And I'm happy you did. My Luna has never been happier in her life. She has great friends that look out for her and love her. You did a world of good for me too. I was in a very dark place after my love died. Now I can feel happiness again and that's in large parts thanks to you. Thank you, my friend."

He wiped his eyes and took a drink from his bottle. "My paper has never sold better; my daughter is happy and my burden is lighter. There isn't much else I could ask from life."

Xeno finished his bottle and turned to go to bed. "Good night."

"'night." John turned to his own bottle and finished it. He was about to get up and go to bed as well, when Xeno's voice startled him from the doorway.

"If he hurts her, I will tear him apart."

John smiled and with his back still to Xeno, answered him. "That's only fair, but if he hurts any of the girls, I'll take him apart myself."

He remained seated until he heard Xeno close his bedroom door and then gave a short bark of laughter. John thought back to the quiet conversation he had had with Harry, once they had gotten back from the alley.

That Harry got embarrassed by looking at wooden breasts, showed him that the time when that decision would be made was not as far in the future as Dan and Xeno might have liked. He barked a laugh again, got up and went to his bed. This day had been far too long for his taste.

* * *

Finally, Monday rolled around. Sunday had brought no usable insights as to what language or code the newest addition to the Potter library was written in. It was almost actively resisting their attempts to attach any meaning to the symbols, much like John's first attempts at parseltounge.

They met up with the Grangers in Diagon alley and went to 'Anderton's Finest Twines' together. John was the only one who knew that all of their gowns and suits had already been paid in full. Quick letters to Mrs. Anderton and Gutslitter were all that was needed.

As they had when all the materials were chosen, the girls followed Mrs. Anderton into a separate room, while the men were fitted in the main fitting room. A few small changes later and their suits, shirts, wests, bowties and other fitting accessories were packed, shrunken and in their pockets. Almost as if to spite the cards and Xeno's best efforts to fall asleep, it only took the women half an hour longer than the men.

Emma went to John and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, but it wouldn't have been necessary."

Dan looked to Xeno and got the same puzzled look in return. Emma turned to her husband.

"He paid for everything. Normally tailors don't work for free you know." She smiled at her somewhat embarrassed spouse.

Dan would probably never admit to it, but when you hung around the Potters for a while, you kind of got used to stuff paying for itself. "Can we see your dresses now?"

"No, you can wait till tomorrow. It'll take ages to get ready….but it'll be worth it." Emma was very mature...so of course she stuck her tongue out to Dan.

They both broke out laughing and Harry caught John's attention. The lad pointed to his pocket, where he had hidden the jewelry box before leaving and raised his eyebrows questioningly at his dad. John smiled and shook his head no. If they could wait, the girls could wait as well.

* * *

On the 31st, they were one of the groups that would arrive late into the night. Some people were invited as early as 6 pm, while they would portkey to Longbottom Manor at 11 pm. As allies to the Longbottoms, the Potters were one of the more important groups of guests. The more important you were, the later you arrived. They would arrive just before the minister of magic himself.

The women went to get ready at 7 pm. They were followed by the incredulous looks that every man on the planet would have understood instantly, it said 'are you serious?'. Emma knew that look already and knew that when she came back to the living room later, the looks would be much more appraising.

By silent agreement, the men used the downstairs guest room to get ready. They showered and dressed, and one after the other, sat in the living room to wait. The common theme that Mrs. Anderton had assigned to their wardrobe that evening seemed to be tie-dye. Xeno's entire shirt was bathed in warm colors, as was John's handkerchief; Harry's sash and Dan's cuffs. They had a great time guessing about how Mrs Anderton might have managed to fit the tie-dye theme into the dresses of the women.

They had half an hour left until they would leave when the women entered the living room. John, Dan and Xeno had their breath knocked out of them by the stunning beauty that had just collectively descended on them. The dresses they wore were divine and, even though Hermione and Luna still had a lot of puberty to go through until all their curves were in the right places, Harry was mesmerized by their appearance as well.

Checking with his dad, who nodded his consent this time, Harry went to the girls and pulled the box from his pocket. He opened it and this time Emma, Hermione and Luna had their turn of breathless awe. The men had meanwhile recovered and studied their ladies/daughters dresses. The tie-dye theme had been executed very subtly in the dresses, except for Luna. Her entire skirt was made from tie-dyed material. Emma had it worked into the lining of her corsage, so it winked out between the material and the strings that held everything together. Hermione had the material reflected in her sash, that, much like Harry's was bound around her waist.

Hermione and Luna got matching sets of earrings and a necklace made of gold and emerald. Emma got to wear the entire diamond set. She sported a broad gold and diamond necklace and sparkling earrings, a bracelet and anklet, and a tiny diamond tiara.

"I feel like a princess, granted a hippie princess, but still a princess." Emma was glowing with happiness, once the pieces of jewelry had found their place on her.

She stood true with her assessment, while all of their clothes were tailored extremely well and were of the finest quality one could find, they looked like they had agreed on a compromise between a royal wedding and Woodstock.

* * *

The portkey Augusta had sent them activated right on 11 pm. After a quick tug behind their navel, they ended up standing, well…sitting in Harry's case, in the entrance hall of what seemed to be a large manor house.

A young man, an employee of some sort called their names and shoved them to a line that led to an announcer, who called the names of the guests out before they entered the ballroom. John had known that the wizarding world was way behind the muggle one in their customs and that Augusta would be called conservative at best, but this, he thought, was a bit overkill.

Behind them a small man, with a lime green dress robe, and a woman with an equally lime green dress made up the end of the line. They could hear him complain.

"I'm the minister of magic, why do I have to wait in line like a commoner?"

The woman, which must have been his wife, answered him. "Because as the most important guest of the evening you get to enter last."

He scoffed for a moment and then… "Of course, you are right my dear, as always."

A third voice joined the minister and his wife, causing Harry, Luna and Hermione to inconspicuously sneak a peak at the people behind them.

A toad-like woman in a neon pink dress had joined them. The dress and the pink bow she wore on her head would have been cute on a girl of about five. On the toad woman, it looked horribly foreboding.

When she opened her mouth, she spoke in a false high girly voice. "Minister, excuse my tardiness, I couldn't make it earlier. There was a situation at the office..."

"My dear Dolores, I'm happy you could join us. Hopefully the situation could be resolved?"

"Yes Minister, everything was resolved don't worry. Good evening to you too, Mrs. Fudge."

"Dolores." The voice of the minister's wife, was decidedly colder than tone her husband used on the toad-woman.

You could hear the minister's smile in his next words. "Very well then, you stop worrying about the office, there will be time on Monday for that. For now, join us in the festivities."

"Thank you minister."

At that moment they had reached the announcer and Xeno, together with Luna, was called out and they entered the ballroom. The Grangers were announced next and were publicly introduced as friends and guests of House Potter. Then Harry and John were called out and every head whipped around as they were introduced as the Lord Harry James Potter and his acting proxy John Potter

They quickly entered the ballroom under the watchful gaze of every eye. Harry's eyes quickly found Neville, who caught his look and quickly made his way over to them. Augusta in the meantime went to greet John and the rest of their party.

Harry, Hermione and Luna noticed that Neville was flanked by Susan and Hannah. Harry and Neville clasped their hand around the forearm of the other, as brothers in arms were supposed to greet each other. The girls all curtsied as was custom as well. After the formal greeting was dealt with, they all hugged and chatted.

Harry turned to Hannah and Susan. "I'm very sorry we tried to send you Christmas presents, but Hedwig returned with the parcels."

"Yeah..." Susan looked a bit embarrassed. "That was my auntie's fault. Most of the parcels anybody sent have been returned. She was a bit paranoid and overdid the post wards. It took her most of the last week to undo and we couldn't send any parcels by owl the entire time. We finally figured we would see you today and would give you the presents once we returned to Hogwarts."

"We had figured the same. We can exchange them on the train on Friday."

"Yes, so Hermione and Luna, are you excited about the dancing later?"

Both girls nodded and Harry whispered into Nevilles ear. "Dancing?"

"Yeah...I thought you knew that was what a ball was all about."

"Ehh...excuse me for a moment."

Harry was mildly in panic. He knew that he could move rhythmically in a general fashion, but he had no idea about classical dancing.

John immediately knew something was off, as soon as he saw the look on Harry's face. He excused himself and went to kneel beside him.

"What's the matter son?"

"I don't know how to dance. The girls want to dance and I'll make a complete ass of myself."

John chuckled. "Is that all? You know I usually don't believe in doing this, but just this once I think it's okay."

He placed his hand on Harry's head and funneled his own experience into the lad's mind. Not just the movements and memories, but also the muscle memory and body awareness. Harry gasped after a second, he now knew how to dance.

"Why can't you teach me about everything like this? It would be much faster."

John's face grew dark. "Yeah and a lot more dangerous. It could burn out your mind and destroy your magic. Dancing is a simple physical task. To teach you magic like that would be asking for trouble. You just wait until tomorrow morning and the blinder of a headache that will wait for you then. You will never again wish for me to teach you like this."

John smiled as he continued. "And you'll appreciate what you learn a whole lot more if you go about it in the normal way. I think you would have rather held Hermione and Luna in your arms for a few hours and days, than have me pump your brain and body with knowledge."

Harry went beet red and grinned. "Yeah." He mumbled while looking at the ground.

"Now go to your friends and have fun. By the way, I think Augusta will start her speech soon, as she will want it to end on midnight to greet the new year."

Harry nodded and walked over to his friends, he quickly whispered into Neville's ear and the other boy grinned at him. John smiled as he watched the six friends getting drinks from the long buffet on one side of the ballroom.

Augusta also smiled as she watched them and she knew that Alice was watching them as well, hidden from her antechamber. She would later reintroduce her daughter in law to the world. Her son, Frank, had made a better recovery than most healers would have predicted for him at the time, but he, right now, still needed help for the most basic of tasks. They had agreed that Alice, with her almost full recovery, was a much better symbol of hope for everyone.

Augusta went to the center of the room and raised her wand. A loud gong was heard and all the conversations around her quieted into nothingness. She took a deep breath and began her speech.

* * *

A/N2: Next time the Ball part 2 and back to Hogwarts.


	10. Dances, Mind Games and Back to School

A/N: I barely blinked and another month went by, where has all that time gone to?

Over a thousand people are following this story. What a number! My mind was blown at fifty, now its shattered to pieces. It honestly makes me feel so good, that so many take their time to read what I write. I want to thank you for that.

A big thank you goes to my beta as always, as I think he gets the worse of the deal. I wouldn't want to pour over my own ramblings and have to right all those mistakes I make. So thank you man, you are the best.

I think we have two more chapters before the end of first year.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

 _Augusta went to the center of the room and raised her wand. A loud gong was heard and all the conversations around her quieted into nothingness. She took a deep breath and began her speech._

"My dear allies, friends and family, whether in blood or in spirit. This celebration has rested for now twelve years. Back then I had seemingly lost my son and my daughter in law to a mad man, a mad man that has been gone now for eleven and a half years.

"In that time I had often thought to resurrect this event, the annual Longbottom New Year ball, but often I had neither the time nor the motivation nor the joy in my heart to make the preparations or even think about them."

She made a small pause and swept her eyes across the room. Augusta settled on John's eyes, to leave no doubt that she intended the next words were for him.

"Then a miracle happened and now I have regained my belief in human kind. Angels seemingly do exist and at times hold their hand above us. I want all of you to appreciate the miracle that was bestowed upon our family and without further ado I give you my daughter-in-law, the Lady Longbottom, Alice my dear please come to me."

A piece of paneling slid aside on the wall and Alice Longbottom made her first public appearance in over a decade. She beamed a fantastic smile at the crowd, which was now solely focused on her. Her gait was slow and deliberate. Alice had talked it over with Augusta, to use her lack of speed while walking to their advantage and maximize the effect Alice had on the room.

Augusta moved aside and gave her daughter-in-law the floor.

"Dear friends..." Alice still had a weak voice, making her very soft spoken and hard to hear even with magical amplification. "...new and old..." Her eyes made their way from the Abbotts to the Potters. "...family..." She focused solely on Neville now. "...I would have loved to have Frank make this speech, as it's his privilege as Lord Longbottom. Sadly he isn't recovering as fast as I had the luck to." She paused to wipe a tear from her eye.

"The Healers can't tell us yet when he will have recovered enough to finally leave their care, but I have high hopes he'll be home by the time Neville comes back from Hogwarts for the summer holiday. Let's make Frank our beacon of hope, a symbol if you want. He should teach us all a lesson. No matter the odds, no matter the hardships we have to face, the love we feel for our family can eventually see us through the hardest of times.

Now I think it's time for the countdown, the New Year will begin in a few moments. Please retire to the terrace, where we have prepared a little display of fireworks for your enjoyment."

The guests, that were still shocked by Alice's appearance, slowly filtered out of the room while Alice, Augusta and John joined the children. The Grangers and Xeno, as well as the Abbott's and Amelia Bones, decided to stand back for a second.

"Neville, why don't you introduce me to your friends."

The young boy beamed a kilowatt smile at his mother and began with Susan and Hannah, continued with Hermione and Luna but saved Harry for last.

Alice looked at Harry the longest and told him quietly. "I don't know if anyone told you, but your parents made me your godmother."

Harry looked at her with such honesty and seriousness, that she was speechless for a moment.

"Lady Longbottom, you are still recovering. No one wants to heap that responsibility on you, at least not right now."

Alice took a moment to recompose herself. "Call me Alice and I don't think of this as a responsibility. It would be a pleasure to have you in my life alongside Neville. Your father and Frank were brothers-in-arms after all. One day, I would love for you and my son to become the same."

"I don't doubt it Lady….Alice. One day we will."

Neville seemed to swell to at least a head higher than before, the positive attention straightening his spine.

They all followed the others to the terrace and were rejoined by the parents. Alice went to the front to start the countdown and on clock strike midnight, she shot a small red spark in the air.

The ensuing fireworks could only be described as royal and fantastic, to define it as a 'small display' didn't do the show any justice.

Things began to go south for them as they returned back to the ball room. Emma recieved a small push to the back and stumbled into a small square witch with a toad like face and manged to spill her entire glass of punch over the much smaller woman.

Emma immediately began to apologize, but the woman, that Harry had earlier overheard was named Umbridge, went into a rage.

"How dare you make a fool out of me." Her index finger was pointed directly at Emma's much ampler chest. "I demand satisfaction. A witches duel, now!"

Emma began to get angry herself and started looking for words, but before she could respond in any way, John stepped in front of her.

"This beautiful young woman is attending this feast as my guest and under my protection. And even if she were not, she couldn't duel you. Since she possess no magic of her own and is my responsibility, the House of Potter will of course not deny you the satisfaction, if you so desperately desire it."

Parts of the short speech were lost to Umbridge's rage addled brain, while others sounded overly loud.

"A squib. Merlin forbid...why would you invite a squib to an event like this."

"She is no squib...who are you anyway...I can't seem to remember Lady Augusta describing you as one of her guests...I'm sure I would have remembered it if she had."

People around them sniggered at the veiled insult.

"A Muggle...oh Merlin...we're falling on hard times indeed if Muggles are invited to balls such as this." Once again her brain had only heard half of what had been said.

Alice, who had been quiet until now, decided to assume some authority in her own house.

"The speaker of House Potter asked your name and how you came to be in our home. Questions I would like the answers to myself."

Umbridge paused. "I am Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and am here on his invite." Her chest puffed out a little, not that anyone could tell the difference.

Augusta had joined them. She raised her head. "Cornelius Fudge. Minister would you please join us."

The Fudge in question had been trying to shrink into the floor, but to no avail. He sighed and made his way to his undersecretary.

"Yes of course Lady...eh Ladies Longbottom, would there be any type of problem?"

Augusta took it upon herself to answer, since she knew Fudge the best.

"Why yes Cornelius, there seemed to be a minor incident between your guest and this guest of Lord Potter himself. YOUR guest then insisted on satisfying her honor, to which my friend John Potter offered himself, since his guest possesses no magic of her own. Still Madam Umbridge seems a lot more concerned with insulting Lord Potter's guest, than satisfying her honor. I demand of you to settle this in place of your guest as she seems to be to enraged to make viable decisions."

Fudge felt like he wanted to faint. At the same time his hands wanted to strangle Dolores. He had invited her to get her introduced to the festivities he got invited to, to be able to send her to these on her own as his representative, once she was his senior undersecretary. Now, it seemed to him as if that would still be a long way to go.

Cornelius was a diplomat at heart and knew that in this situation he had to lose a bit of face, so he wouldn't lose all of it.

"I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the House of Potter and your honored guest. I'm sure no slight was intended on my undersecretaries part."

"But Minister..." Umbridge was silenced by a hard look on Fudge's face. An expression that looked both scary and hilariously out of place on the small, round man's face. He turned his attention back to the Granger's and John.

"If your honor demands it, I am sure we can find an option which will keep all of us satisfied."

John simply chuckled. "Since the cry for satisfaction didn't come from our side, I highly doubt that we need to settle any scores today."

Fudge sighed, happy he didn't have to fight the man, but it bothered him that he had to leave the moral high ground to Potter. Dolores would answer him for this come Monday.

Fudge bowed to the assembled Potter party and dragged his undersecretary away. They saw him speak a few harsh words and then she went to the apparition point and was gone.

After Emma had found a seat and Dan had gotten her something to drink, she slowly recovered from the alteration.

Inside the giant ballroom the festivities had now picked up momentum. Music was playing and the people had begun their dancing. The buffet to the side of the room offered them food and drink at any time they wanted it.

While they couldn't forget the Umbridge woman and her disdain for Muggles, they pushed it to the back of their minds. They were determined to enjoy their night and not have it ruined by something like this. Harry and his girls shared quite a few dances that night, as did Neville with Hannah and Susan. John twirled Susan's aunt Amelia across the dance floor, making the normally stern woman appear at least ten years younger.

Harry had also danced once with both Hannah and Susan while Hermione and Luna had danced with Neville, but after one dance they all returned back to their usual partners. One of the girls would normally pause when the boys would dance with the other, but some times they would also dance with one of their fathers or John would offer up. He would also dance with Augusta and saved a slow dance for Alice.

By dawn, the ball had begun to break up. The guests filtered from the room to the apparation point and either disapparated or used a portkey that was supplied for them, as quite a few of the adults were too intoxicated to apparate.

After they had arrived at the Potter home, John and Harry took the Granger's to their house. They quickly thanked the Potter's for the great evening and asked him to include their names in the customary thank you note he would sent to Augusta. Then the Granger's all stumbled in direction of their beds.

Once back in their home, Harry and John found that Luna and Xeno had already gone to bed and they quickly followed their example.

* * *

That afternoon woke Harry with a blinder of a headache and the singing of birds, which, compared to their usual volume, sounded far to loud in his ears.

He rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, upon smelling food he had to choke back the bile in his throat and quickly made his way to the potions lab. He browsed the storage shelf on the far wall, found what he was looking for and choked the potion down. It took over ten minutes for the pain to subside and then it was still a dull throb in his brain. He felt like he had the concussion of a century and had been hit in the head repeatedly as a way of celebrating it.

That short day Harry did nothing, but try and avoid smells, sounds and light.

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly and on Saturday, they had to make their way back to Hogwarts.

John had reviewed their occlumency with them and while they were no where near ready to face a master legllimancer, he was satisfied with their progress. He was certain that their pendants would keep them protected for now, but they would at least know when someone would try to break into their minds now.

John also told them that it was certain that Dumbledore would call one of them, or all of them, to his office upon their return.

* * *

They had for once decided to go to the station in the magical way and save themselves the hassle of going through King's Cross. John made a portkey to take them and their luggage to the platform. After appearing in the designated portkey spot and freeing up the small room for the next arrival, they met up with the Longbottoms, the Bones and the Abbotts.

The friends exchanged the gifts they had been unable to send on Christmas, which were mostly boxes of sweets and the odd book thrown in. Everybody stared at Hermione upon unwrapping a book, but she shook her head.

"It wasn't me, I stuck to chocolates this time."

Harry scratched the back of his head. "That was me actually, I thought they were nice gifts."

Susan was the first to get her bearings back, she replied a bit sheepish herself. "It is really, it was just something I would have thought Hermione would do."

She and Hannah looked at the titles of their books and were surprised at the titles. Susan held a copy of the 'Easy guide to magical self-defense for youngsters' and Hannah got '77 easy healing spells every child and young adult should know'.

Hannah was surprised. "How did you know what to get? How could you know I have an interest in healing?"

Harry got even more embarrassed. "Well I thought with Madame Bones being the head of the DMLE, that Susan would have an interest in the theory and practice of magical fighting. Being able to defend yourself never hurt anyone either. With you… well Neville mentioned that you had asked him about a lot of healing herbs and that you had grilled Madame Pomfrey about the spells she uses in the infirmary."

He shrugged. "So I took the shortest route to a logical conclusion and got you the books. I guess you could swap them for something you'd rather read."

Susan and Hannah both spoke at the same time. "NO! It's perfect."

Harry smiled at them. "I'm glad then."

For some reason neither could tell, Harry's smile turned their insides to mush. The girls had to fight down a short bout of jealousy at that. It was eased as Harry immediately turned back to them again.

Before they boarded the train, John took Harry aside to talk to him.

"Harry, you already have your invisibility cloak on you, take this with you as well." He handed the stone to the flabbergasted boy.

"But why, didn't you and Xeno want to study it?"

"We did...well as good as we could. It won't react to us at all, but like the book it might react to you. Now take these with you as well."

John then handed Harry the book and a small pouch.

"What's this?" The boy asked, pointing to the pouch.

"Your staff is inside. Keep it hidden, but use it if you feel that you have to...I have the feeling it will serve you well. If you think there is trouble or you need help with anything...just give me a call and I will get to you immediately."

"I will Dad."

"And watch out for Dumbledore. If he doesn't get anywhere with his legillimancy, he might try to force information from you and obliviate you afterwards. If he only calls you, go alone. If he calls one of the girls, go with them. Protect the girls. If he gives you grief about this issue, call me. Xeno, Dan and Emma all gave me the right to decide on their behalf where Hogwarts is concerned."

"I will."

John hugged hugged his son and reluctantly let him go, this time it felt really weird to let him go to Hogwarts again.

* * *

The children got on the train after saying goodbyes to their families and the trio decided to share a compartment with Neville, Susan and Hannah, just like they had on their way home.

This time however, they were interrupted about halfway through their journey.

A rather shortish, pink haired girl walked in. She looked to be in her sixth or seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Wotcher, just checking up on Hannah and Susan."

The girls smiled at her and said. "Hey Tonks."

Hermione couldn't hold back and had to ask. "Tonks...that's a rather strange name, isn't it?"

The older girl wanted to spin around and look menacing at her, but only managed to trip over her own feet. She fell over and delivered a headbutt to Harry's nose in the process. He heard the crunch it made and managed a sigh before the pain from his broken nose set in. Why did it always have to be him.

"Oww."

Harry pushed the older girl upright again, not even noticing that he touched her breasts in the progress. Tonks wanted to smack him, but reminded herself that he was just eleven. She was shocked to see the blood flowing from his nose.

"I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz...please let me fix..." Tonks started to say, but was shocked into silence.

Harry reached up and straightened his nose out with a sickening crunch, then he concentrated and the bones mended. After a moment the pain had subsided and he waved his hand to clean the blood from himself and Tonks' hair. Then he stood and stuck his hand out.

"I'm Harry, pleased to meet you Tonks."

She tentatively shook his hand and her brain got back into gear.

"As I was saying call me anything else and die..." Tonks' voice faded off at the end. The shock on her face and the confusion as to what had happened just a moment ago, robbed her words of any threat they might have usually held. For a moment she doubted that it was even possible for her to kill the lad, even if she tried.

Harry just smiled at her. "I only got to know you, what else should I call you by?"

Tonks blushed and her hair, strangely enough followed suit. The change was only momentary, but for a few seconds the Tonks in her compartment was a redhead. Harry decided to keep it in mind and ask her about it later.

"I'm sorry, my parents gave me a really weird and embarrassing name and I don't like it. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted people to call me by my last name, as I found it to be less demeaning."

"What did your parents call you, that made you that unsure about you name?" Harry was confused.

"Alright...I'll tell you, but please don't use it."

"I won't if you don't want me to."

Hermione and Luna nodded along to Harry's words.

"They named me Nymphadora." Tonks grew very silent all of the sudden.

"A beautiful name, why do you hate it?" Harry's confusion had only grown.

"Ehh….Harry…." Hermione leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear.

"Ohhh..." He blushed a little. "I understand….I guess." He turned back to Tonks.

"Well, I still think Tonks is a little too harsh….I'll call you Dora if you don't mind."

The young woman's eyes widened. "No one ever tried that idea...Dora, I...I kind of like it."

"It's like John always says 'These magical folks don't have one grain of common sense.'" Hermione quipped, trying and failing to imitate John, and she, Luna and Harry descended into laughter.

While Neville, Susan and Hannah basically knew what was meant, Dora looked confused and a bit hurt. Harry took pity on her.

"It's something my dad likes to say, whenever the 'purebloods' do something..let's say... not so clever."

"Okay….I do have one question though."

Dora looked intently at Harry and he knew what was coming. He nodded for her to go on.

"How did you do that...with your nose and the blood?"

Harry cringed a little, he really should be more secretive about his abilities in the future.

"I can do a bit of wandless magic, my dad taught me early on how to harness my magic."

Dora's eyes glazed over as she mouthed the words 'wandless magic' once or twice, then she shook her head and fixed him with a more determined gaze.

"Teach me!"

Harry had been prepared for almost anything, but not for this. "Whaaa…?"

"Teach me how to do wandless magic!"

"I'm not even entirely sure how I do it most of the time...how should I teach you?"

Dora pondered on this for a moment. "Your dad! He could show me how!"

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, they barely knew each other ten minutes.

"Whoa...slow down Dora. I can ask him, but I can't promise anything. We've only known each other for like ten minutes and he is kind of careful around new people."

The girl visibly deflated. "Oh...I guess." She brightened up. "We could be friends for now, how about that?"

Harry gave her a smile at her rather innocent enthusiasm and unwavering optimism. "I'd like that, one can never have too many friends."

She grinned. "Great, well I got to get back to my compartment, before someone reports me as missing. See you all at school!"

Dora left and after a few seconds they heard a crash followed by her voice further down the corridor. "Ouch. What did I trip over now?"

They all had to bite back laughter at this. Hannah and Susan told them that all of the first and second years got a seventh or sixth year looking out for them in Hufflepuff.

"That's a good system. That way you always have someone to talk to and someone to help you with school work if needed." Hermione said.

Susan nodded.

Harry had another question to ask however. "What unlucky person got stuck with Weasley?"

Hannah wanted to answer, but the door was pushed open right after Harry had finished.

"Who called us?" Red haired twins stood in the door frame and had assumed the pose of a djinn from a fairy tale.

Harry frowned a bit. "No one as far as I can tell. Why?"

The twin that was on the left began the answer, while the one on the right ended it.

"Someone in here..."

"...said Weasley!"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, you're Weasley's as well then?"

This time both spoke at the same time. "Yes, we are! You weren't speaking of us?"

"No actually we thought more of your brother? Cousin? Ronald I mean..." Luna clarified it for them.

"Ohh...Ikkle Ronnikins...our Brother!"

"What would have you interested in him?"

Harry answered this time. "I don't mean to insult you or your family, but Ronald has been a pain in the butt since we came to Hogwarts."

The twins looked at each other for a moment.

"Imagine, how we felt..."

"...we have had to live with him in the house for 8 years..."

"...before we could leave for Hogwarts!"

"We're actually glad he's not in Gryffindor."

This shocked the trio a bit, after all they thought the brothers would defend their family member, even if it was Ronald Weasley.

The twins used their moment of confusion to send a few carefully thought out spells their way. Harry noticed the magic from them and noticed the spells purpose. He thought for a second and then allowed them to hit. He felt his hair turn green and his robes turning silver, Neville received the same treatment. For Hannah and Hermione it was bronze Hair and blue robes. Luna and Susan received black hair and yellow robes.

Harry send payback at them and their robes turned golden. They all looked at each other and started laughing.

"You're good sports..."

"...and quick on your game."

"I think we could have a little pranking contest, next year?" Harry asked innocently, while he undid all the spells...well almost all of them at least.

The twins laughed. "The little firsties want to go to war. All right next year!"

They left still laughing and they heard them enter a compartment down the corridor. "Hello ladies..." was all they heard, then the twins were cut off by laughter...loud female laughter.

Two figures run by their still open door, by the looks of it only clad in their boxers.

Everyone in the compartment stared at Harry.

"What? I thought I'd start a bit early." And he gave into his own laughter. One by one the others joined in.

The rest of their ride to Hogwarts was quiet. The friends spent the remaining time chatting. Soon they arrived at the school.

* * *

It was during Breakfast the next morning, that Professor McGonagall came to their table.

"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster wants to see you in his office tonight."

Harry nodded. They had known this would happen sooner, rather than later. "I'll be there. Where is the entrance to his office."

The old Professor gave him a sad little smile. "I will fetch you after dinner tonight and bring you there."

"Thank you Professor."

Since it was a Sunday, they had all day to themselves and decided to go to the library and read up on the subjects they would have on Monday.

* * *

Dinner rolled around and all too soon it was finished. Professor McGonagall came over to Harry and led him through the corridors of the school. After about half of the way, she started speaking to him from the corner of her mouth.

"John told you about the Headmaster?"

Harry replied equally quiet. "Yes. We took precautions."

The elder professor gave a sigh of relief and schooled her features back into a stern expression. She led him to a stone gargoyle and said "Sherbert Lemons", to which the gargoyle stepped aside and gave them access to a revolving staircase.

Professor McGonagall gave him one last sad smile and walked away. Harry mounted the staircase and knocked on the door after he arrived at the top.

"Come in." Someone from the inside called.

Harry entered the office. It was large and round and furnished with a comfortably mismatched mix of furniture. Had he not been on edge so much, he wouldn't have thought twice about snuggling into one of the comfy looking armchairs and reading one of the many books on the shelf.

"Ah… Harry come right in…" Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled merrily. "I hope you had a swell Christmas and you settled in nicely during you first semester."

"Yes, thank you sir."

"Now Harry, I was friends with your parents. We supported a common cause. That was during the war...a war that you ended. I suspect a lot of people expressed their gratitude and admiration for you. And I suspect that you would have a lot of questions in need of answers."

Harry smiled. "Only one sir."

Dumbledore laughed like the jolly Santa Clause he tried to portrait. "Only one, dear boy, I guess more will come as we progress. So fire away."

Harry's smile broadened for a fraction of an inch. "Why?"

"Why?" Dumbledore was caught off guard. "I suppose you mean why Voldemort targeted you as a child. I'm afraid I can't ans..."

Harry interrupted him. "No...Why did you place me with them?"

"Place you..." The older wizards face lost a lot of color. "Place you with whom, my dear boy, what are you talking about?"

Harry's face lost the smile. "My… _RELATIVES_..."He spat at the man. "The Dursley family…" His face contorted. "The bastards that made my life a living hell for five years."

"My dear boy, oh my dear boy...Harry…first you have to understand...understand that there are greater forces at work. Greater than you...or I for that matter. These people...as misguided as they might have been, were your greatest protection. Now they are dead and I..."

"Good riddance!" Harry shouted.

"Harry! You should never feel elation at the death of another human being. As I was trying to say… I'm afraid your guardian, your uncle, might have had something to do with their death."

"If that were true..." Dumbledore perked up at that, so Harry made a small pause. "...then someone should recommend him for an Order of Merlin First Class."

Now Dumbledore lost his grandfather persona and tried intimidation.

"The death of two people his hardly a laughing matter, much less a reason for celebration!"

"That depends on the people… sir." Harry gave him a cold, humorless smile. "If it were Voldemort again… people would celebrate. For me they're one and the same… animals."

Dumbledore sputtered. "That's not the same, Voldemort was a mass murderer...is a mass murderer..."

"A bad person, just like they were bad people!" Harry now looked small and vulnerable, just as he intended. "How can you defend people that would beat a four year old child into submission. Or allow their sister, to sic her dog on a child. Or give permission to their child to beat him and throw rocks at him. Or cut them for wetting the bed."

Harry made a pause to breath.

"I slept in a cupboard under the stairs from the second I entered the Dursley household. I was fed table scraps like a dog. I was beaten for not doing my chores correctly. Chores too hard for an older child much less a four or five year old. Dudley gave me papercuts, just for the fun of it."

Harry took one last deep breath and then continued quietly.

"Vernon once came to my cupboard, not to offer me any love, but to piss on me… I was three at the time. He then locked me in and made me sleep in it. I got blamed for it the next morning and got a cut on my ear as a punishment. Petunia did that. The only 'luck' I had, was that magic patched me up every time. If I hadn't been magical, I couldn't have survived their abuse."

Harry looked up, Dumbledore looked pale and his hands were shaking a bit.

"I think our conversation is over." He got up and walked out the door.

Dumbledore took ten minutes to get himself back into gear. He had to repeat to himself 'What is the pain of one, compared to the greater good of many.' He had done many things that were painful for single individuals, but had ultimately led wizarding kind into the golden age they were in now. Or had he?

* * *

Harry had left the office of the headmaster and quickly went into an empty classroom. He closed his eyes and quickly contacted John.

 _"Hello Harry, did everything go according to plan?"_

"Hey Dad, yes, he should be careful around me and leave me alone for now."

 _"What did you tell him?"_

"Everything we agreed upon. The truth!"

 _"How did he take it?"_

"At first he tried to defend them, in the end he was pale and shaken."

 _"Very well! Go join the girls in the tower."_

"I will. Bye Dad."

 _"Goodbye Son."_

Harry ended the connection and went to the Gryffindor tower, where the girls were waiting on him. They grilled him for every detail of the conversation, but he gave them a slightly censored version of what he told Dumbledore.

The girls knew some of what had happened to him as a small child, but not all, not yet. One day he would tell them. He wanted no secrets between them.

* * *

It was two days after Harry had met with the Headmaster, when a humongous man stepped up to him during a break between classes. He had a great mass of hair and beard, which both looked to be severely singed at the edges.

He handed Harry a gift wrapped in brown paper and left in tears. Hermione and Luna immediately wanted to know who that had been, but Harry had no answer for them. He opened the package and in it lay a small, leather-bound book. Upon opening Harry found dozens of pictures of his parents and a note.

The note said, in a scrawled script, that it was just a memento of his parents for him and that all of their old friends had participated. It also told him that the man was called Hagrid.

* * *

That night Harry wrote a letter to John, asking him about Hagrid and a present he could give the giant man. He had just set down his quill, when a black raven swooped in the window. A dead black raven.

"You again!" Harry took a second to calm his heart. "What do you want?"

The raven hobbled over to the parchment and tapped his beak twice on the letter.

"You want to take my letter… to John?"

"CAW!"

Harry shrugged and, after sealing the letter up, tied it to the leg of the raven. He watched the undead animal fly from the window and wondered, not for the first time, what these ravens were all about.

* * *

The next morning the raven delivered John's answer and dissolved into thin air like before. Hedwig also landed and brought him a parcel. Since the owl didn't dissolve he gave her a piece of bacon and she left for the owlery.

He opened the note first.

 _Hello Harry,_

 _be wary of Hagrid._

 _Rubeus Hagrid is a kind soul, if a bit misguided, but he is 100% in Dumbledore's camp. I personally think he doesn't know half of the shit the old man has pulled._

 _The parcel that Hedwig brought you, contains a bit of liquor filled chocolates, as a way of saying thank you. Try not to get involved with the man. He might not intentionally tell on you, but he surely will if he thinks it helps you._

 _Love,_

 _Dad_

 _PS: Snape just told me that Quirrell will be out of the castle tonight, so keep an eye on the pendant._

Harry resolved to take the chocolates to the giant man's hut after dinner that night.

* * *

Harry knocked on the door of the small hut on the edge of the forbidden forest. He heard cursing and banging and a sound like a flame thrower going off.

"It's Harry, Mr. Hagrid."

The door was unlocked and a slightly sweltering Hagrid stood in the door. Tendrils of smoke curled up from his beard.

"Oh..Hello Harry...nice of you to visit. A bit badly timed perhaps." In that moment a jet of flames set his curtains on fire.

"Do you have a dragon in your cabin Mr. Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"I...I...Well come in then." The man used one of his shovel sized hands to push Harry inside and the other to extinguish his flaming curtains.

Under the table in the small kitchen, there was a small Dragon, about the size of a large pony.

"His name is Norbert. He's a Norwegian Ridgeback. He'll have to go live in the forest soon, the hut is getting too small for him."

"Mr. Hagrid…" Harry started, but the same interrupted him.

"None of that Mr.. Just call me Hagrid… everyone does it."

"Fine...Hagrid… are you sure it's smart to let a being live in the woods, that seems to love setting stuff on fire?"

Hagrid looked thoughtful for a moment. "Now that you say it...maybe it's not such a good idea...but where could he go to live?"

"Aren't there reserves? Just for cases like this?"

Hagrid looked a bit embarrassed. "Well yes...but since it is forbidden to hatch dragons in Britain, that might spell trouble for me."

Harry concentrated and got an affirmative from John. "My dad will be here in a few moments, I'm quite sure he knows what to do."

"Your dad? James? He's dead."

Harry frowned. How come every time he mentioned his dad, people automatically presumed he meant James Potter. Had these magical people never heard of adoptions?

"I know that James Potter is dead. He was my father. My dad, that's actually my uncle, John."

"John Potter...I remember him from back when he was a child, went to the US to get his education. Dumbledore said he might have killed your relatives, that he might be a bad person..."

Hagrid stopped talking and cast a worried look into Harry's direction.

"Don't worry, my dad is a kind person. He took care of me, ever since I was 6. John took me out of there just in time. A short time later Vernon, my other uncle, snapped and killed his wife, and my mothers sister, Petunia. My Cousin was almost beaten to death by him and now lives in an Asylum."

"Well if you say so..." Hagrid didn't sound convinced.

There was a knock on the door and Harry, knowing that it was John, went to answer it. John entered the confined space of the hut and was amazed at the size of the dragon. Little Norbert greeted him with an enthusiastic burst of flame.

John turned to Harry. "What now?"

"Dad, Hagrid hatched this dragon in here. Now we need to get him to a reserve. Do you know of any way?"

"Maybe I do, I know of a few people that won't ask any questions. They often smuggle dragons to the reserves in Romania. I can get them to take him, but we need something that withstands his fire to transport him."

John cast another worried glance at the animal.

"He's also quite big already and I suspect quite heavy as well."

"And you can't use magic to transport him." Hagrid interjected.

"Maybe not on him, but what about the space he is in?" Harry asked.

John pondered for a moment. "Yes it should work, a fire resistant version of a bottomless bag might do the trick. I have something like that in the workshop at home. I can modify it and have the right people pick him up on Friday. Harry..." He said it with a grimace. "I'll need you to come down here on Friday Afternoon and drug Norbert, so he is asleep when they arrive in the evening."

Harry nodded and after a quick set of goodbyes, John left to start working on Norbert's box. Harry also said his goodbyes to Hagrid, but then the large man said something that startled him.

"You were right about your dad Harry, he's a good man. Maybe, even Dumbledore can be wrong sometimes."

* * *

That night Harry watched the pendant for any type of change and just past ten o'clock the glow of the pendant changed. It's glow changed from the bright white light it usually emanated to the softer blue sheen it had been before they had left for Christmas.

* * *

On Friday afternoon, Harry took the girls with him to see Norbert. After all, when did you get the chance to see a real dragon.

After Norbert had eaten the specially prepared steak, he slowly started to fall asleep. Harry made sure to check that he was completely out and then had the girls enter.

Hermione was at first a bit put off by the scaly somewhat slimy look of the dragon, but soon dared to come closer and take a look.

Luna was much calmer about the experience. "Aren't you cute?" was about her only comment to the very real danger of a dragon. She immediately was by Norbert's side and petted his snout.

As they went back up to the school that evening, Luna commented that it was a shame that dragons were outlawed in Britain and what good watch dogs they'd make.

"Forget it Luna, Dad and Xeno will never let you have a dragon for a pet."

'Damn!' Harry cursed in his mind, as Luna pouted for a moment. Every time she'd done that since Christmas, he wanted to hold her and make it all better. He really had a set of strange urges these past few weeks.

Little did he know, that this confusion would only get stronger over the next few months.

* * *

A/N2: Next time Luna's Birthday and the plot thickens.

Also we finally met Hagrid, but I won't try and write his accent into this. I'd only get it wrong anyways.


	11. Birthday, Death and a couple of Stones

A/N: Hello guys (and girls, of course). I hope you're still with the story and that my incredibly long pauses in between chapters have not turned you away. So a big thank you to everyone who is still with the story and a big thank you to my beta, for not declaring me dead.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

Despite all the excitement over the Christmas holidays, the day to day school life quickly caught up with the trio of Friends.

Before long it was February and then it was time for Luna's Birthday.

This time Harry had teamed up with Hermione and she left a beautiful bouquet of sun flowers on her friends bedside table. Luna's mood instantly improved as she got up and for once she didn't grump down the stairs, but went to the common room with a sense of joyful anticipation. Only to find it empty.

Luna was disappointed that her friends seemingly hadn't waited on her. She was already halfway to the portrait hole, when her own name caught her eye. It was written on a big envelop that was stuck to the back of the portrait door.

She opened envelope and found a very basic map. On the back of it, a short note was scribbled.

"Harry!" she smiled.

 _Follow the map, X marks the spot._

Luna looked at the map and then at her watch. As it was a Thursday, she wanted to make sure she had enough time to properly search for her friends. She still had a solid two hours before her first lesson and just knew that breakfast was waiting for her.

On the map that her friends had drawn for her, she saw a lot of things that wouldn't make any kind of sense in everyday Hogwarts. Palm trees and coconuts lined the path she had to take. She stepped through the portrait hole and came face to face with a potted palm tree and to her left there was a dune of sand.

Luna consulted her map and took the path to the right. The ground got sandier with every step she took and she was sure she could hear the sea. As she took a left turn by a coconut and an empty rum bottle, she saw one of the Weasley twins, dressed up as pirate.

"Arrr, matey….you gotta hurry...lest me brother eats all yer puddin'."

With a snort, Luna moved a bit faster. She knew that Fred was only joking, but better be safe then sorry when your pudding might be in jeopardy. Soon she reached the point where, much to her amusement, a giant X marked a spot in the sand. Right next to it was a child sized shovel.

Luna picked it up with a smile and dug down on the X for about four inches. The shovel hit something hard and Luna pulled a small chest from the hole. She undid the latch and inside she found a small stuffed kitten toy. She reached for it and felt the a pull behind her navel.

Upon landing. she saw all her loved ones around her. She saw a rather big pile of presents and the pudding pie her dad had made. She looked at Harry, Hermione, Neville, Susan, Hannah along with John and her dad. Luna had a feeling, that this was going to be the best birthday party of her life. All her friends came to her and hugged her and wished her well. They sang to her and sat her in a chair at the table.

Only now Luna noticed that they weren't at the Potter home, where they had stayed for the better part of the last 10 months. Nor were they at the Granger home. They were on the middle floor of the Rookery, which was a giant living room basically.

Luna had to smile a watery smile and grabbed Harry and John in a firm hug, hugged Hermione and then hugged her dad the hardest.

While they were in their embrace, Luna whispered to her father. "Thank you daddy and I love being back here again… but we won't… we won't move out from Harry's yet, will we?."

Xeno smiled at his daughter. "Not yet, no. But I thought you might like to celebrate your birthday at home."

Luna beamed her father a brilliant smile. "Yes I love it."

She turned around to find Neville, Susan and Hannah right in front of her. Neville reached a small parcel out to her.

"We put our money together to buy this for you."

She pulled the wrapping paper off and looked at the book underneath. 'The theoretical life of the crumple horned snorkack' was the title of it. She opened the book and was shocked to see that it was written by Newt Scamander.

"How..." She started, but Neville interrupted.

"Well seemingly he had written it during his travels, but it was never accepted by the mainstream magi zoologists. He had only a couple of copies made, but they never sold. This was one of the few copies that were actually sold. Your dad and John actually have great connections."

Luna hugged her friends one after the other. "I thank you so much, it's great. But it must have been terribly expensive."

Susan smiled at her. "It was a bit more than each of us could afford on their own, but together it was manageable. Luckily it isn't a much sought after book, so it's a bit cheaper than most rare books."

"Thanks."

Hermione came to her next. She handed Luna a small box. Inside was a collar with a small name tag. 'William the Fortuitous' was studded on it with small clear crystals.

"Ohh it's so cute, Bill will love it for sure. He'll be the cutest little pet kneazel in the whole wide world."

"It's also spelled so, whenever he gets lost, you can find him again."

Luna hugged her friend and thanked her. John went next and handed a long slender package to the young witch.

She tore the wrapping paper from her brand new traveling broom. Her eyes grew wide.

"Thank you! I can't wait for a chance to use it." The wide smile she had on her face since she had been portkeyed into her living room, only grew wider.

Next came the Grangers and handed her a small packet. Dan smiled at her. "We asked Xeno if it would be okay to give this to you. He said you would be responsible enough for it."

Luna opened the packet and found a small multi purpose knife. Emma added another remark to their gift.

"It's a magical variety of pocket knife. It has all the tools a muggle one has, plus a few more magical tools."

The young witches head almost split apart at the mouth. "Thank you! It's a very useful tool."

The Grangers just smiled at her. Harry came to her side and handed her a rather large box which, she was sure, was charmed to be lighter.

"Trust me you'll need it."

After opening the box and discovering the magical tent inside, Luna started to get an inkling of an idea where this might lead. She hugged Harry and planted a small kiss on his cheek. The boy in question blushed brilliantly.

Xeno went last to give his gift to his daughter. It was a fully stocked backpack for long hikes.

"Luna, my darling, I promised you to take you with me on my expeditions one day. This summer we will work up to that and go on a combined camping trip and expedition. Some easy research and a bit of laid back holiday."

Taking a step back, Luna charged at her father and smothered him in a massive hug, well as massive a hug as an petite, eleven year old girl could give.

"And we're coming with you." She turned around to see Harry, John, Hermione and the Grangers standing there.

The young girl squealed in delight and jumped up and down while hugging all of them in turn. Xeno whispered to John.

"I haven't seen her this happy since long before her mother died. I'm so happy to see her like this again." He wiped away a stray tear that was half of happiness and half of sorrow.

"Then I'm all the more happy you came to live with us. I also think it did Harry a world of good, Hermione as well."

Xeno smiled and together they all sat down to eat breakfast. Soon it was time for the children to go back to Hogwarts and start their day. Through out the day, loads of people recognized Luna and remembered her birthday.

With each card she received and every 'Happy Birthday', her spirits lifted further. It was a wonderful day for the young witch as even her favorite Professors remembered her birthday. Just before bedtime Harry gave Luna another packet and whispered into her ear.

Hermione saw this and felt jealousy trying to creep in. She fought it down and saw Luna heading into her diretion, Harry right on Luna's heels. The petite blonde stopped in front of her and held the still wrapped packet out to Hermione.

"This is for you. Harry and John worked on this over the Christmas holidays, I had no idea that it was already finished."

Hermione looked at Luna with wide eyes. "But it's your birthday, I'm not supposed to get gifts today."

Luna smiled. "Open the box, I think you'll like it."

Doing as she was told, Hermione saw a beautiful set of a comb and a brush. They were exquisitely crafted and engraved with runes.

"These do the same thing my mom's brush do for me. Harry just told me that they had to split the spells up on a comb and a brush, because they couldn't replicate the matrix on such a small item."

Hermione wiped away a small tear. That her friends would go to such lengths just to make her happy, it was all the proof she would ever need that they loved her. And she loved them as well. Her family had grown so much larger since she had met Harry and then Luna.

She enveloped them both in a hug and thanked them. Then she skipped up the stairs to thank John on the mirror as well.

That night they all went to bed with the deeply rooted knowledge that they were loved.

* * *

School continued for the trio and they got top marks in each of their courses. Sometimes the pendant would indicate a change and John confirmed that it was Quirrell every time. They now knew that their DADA teacher was in some way in the possession of a horcrux. They would soon need to intervene, but John wanted to deal with it right before the summer holidays. He didn't want to generate any type of undue attention to their cause.

Little did he know that they wouldn't get that chance…

* * *

Harry was happy. He, Luna and Hermione had just finished their last exam for their first year of school. They were walking along a sunlit corridor and were joking with each other, when Luna suddenly fell to the ground. She shivered, then convulsed and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

She opened her mouth, but the voice that spoke the words was not her own.

"Master and servant, one and the same,

he the one who fled in shame,

searching for the magical stone,

to restore his flesh and bone.

Champion of death heed the danger,

you, the moon and the Granger,

get the stone before the snake,

seek for answers by the lake.

Make haste to call the ancient one,

if you wait too long your chance is gone,

stop the evil now, it won't be over then,

but fail and he will reign again."

Harry quickly checked her magical core and recoiled. The tendrils that snaked from it had opened, making her a seer for a short amount of time. He didn't know how it came to be, but Luna most likely had just given them a true prophecy.

Hermione had knelt beside their friend, while Harry still stared of into the distance. She cradled the head of her fallen friend.

"What happened to her, Harry? What kind of seizure is this? Is it poison?"

Harry returned to the present and saw that Luna had started to froth at the mouth and quickly sent a telepathic emergency signal to his father. Only two seconds later, John appeared in the corridor.

"Harry!" He saw Luna lying on the floor. "What happened to her." He went to kneel beside the youngest of their group.

Hermione tried to summarize for John. "We were walking along the corridor after our last exam. We were joking and suddenly she fell to the ground. I don't know what caused it."

"I do!" They both looked at Harry. He took a second longer to calm his nerves. "She just gave a prophecy."

John looked wide eyed at Harry, then switched his attention to Luna's core.

"But the tendrils are still whole! How did she do it!?"

He poured the contents of a small vial into her mouth, that he had teleported from the potion cabinet at home.

Harry was still shaken. "I don't know how she did it, but I looked at her core the second she collapsed. The tendrils of magic that snaked from it were wide open. I saw future and past pass right through her and only after she fainted the channels started to close."

John saw Luna's magic calm down and the girl relaxed in Hermione's grip.

"This complicates things… What did she say?"

Harry quickly recounted the prophecy. "But what does it mean? It obviously pertains to us… but who is the ancient one? The snake is probably Voldemort. But what answers could we find by the lake?"

John pondered Luna's words for a second longer then tried to answer Harry's questions.

"You're right, the snake is Voldemort. The ancient one could either be me or Flamel, best we give him a quick mirror call. I only know one person who lives by the lake."

"Hagrid!" Both Harry and Hermione gasped at the same time.

"I saw him." Luna's meek voice said from the floor.

"Luna!" Three voices exclaimed happily.

"Hey… Can anybody tell me what happened? My head is a jumbled mess."

John bend down to the girl. "Please tell me what you can remember."

Luna tried to bring order to her screaming mind. Snippets of thought insisted on alternately being memories, dreams or both, and finally she just told John what came to her first.

"I saw a man without a nose, his face was reptilian, almost snakelike. Then there was Hagrid playing a … flute I think. Then there was a red stone and us three trying to reach it. Oh… and a really old man, that looked kind of young. It reminded me of a dream I had. Hermione do you remember the one I told you about."

Hermione nodded and John quickly made a decision. "Luna what you have seen was a vision and you gave a prophecy as a result of that."

Luna gave him a wide eyed look. "Impossible! You told me I was not a seer!"

"I don't know how it works and you are not. Not all the time at least. But it seems that...at times, you can see. I would like to get more information about this as well, but I think time is of the essence now."

He helped Luna to her feet and the children wanted to run to the lake, but John placed his arms around them and they suddenly stood a few hundred feet from the cabin of Hagrid and there he sat, playing what looked like a roughly carved flute.

Harry and the girls ran to Hagrid, while John gave Nicholas Flamel a call. He didn't reach him, but left a message for the ancient.

As he reached the kids, they had already started to grill the half-giant for information. He heard Hagrid trying to calm them.

"Now, now you don't need to worry. Dumbledore and the other Professors have protected the stone and no one can get to it."

"I'm afraid that's not quite correct Hagrid. We have good reason to believe that Quirrell is after the stone and a reliable source has it that he doesn't want to wait any longer. Tell us, did you supply anything to secure the stone."

Hagrid wanted to say something but Luna beat him to it. "The cerberus!"

"You know about Fluffy? Why am I not surprised?"

John frowned. "Does anyone know how to get past him? I guess there is a trick to it..."

"Yes there is. No one knows, but me and Dumbledore…." Hagird grew silent suddenly.

John grew nervous. "Hagrid?"

"...Well you know. You remember Norbert. I won him as an egg in the pub. And while we were talking about the fascinating animals we got to the topic of caring for dragons and I told him that with Fluffy you only needed to know how to calm him down. I told him Fluffy only needed music and then he would fall asleep."

"Damn!" John cursed. He turned to the school and began running, the three children hot on his heels.

They entered the entrance hall and almost collided with Professor McGonagal. John skidded to a halt before the stern woman.

"Professor, I need to know if Dumbledore is in the school."

Minerva was so taken aback that she simple answered, without asking for the reason why.

"No he was called to the Ministry of Magic."

John scowled. "How… convenient. I better be quick." He turned to his son. "You stay out of sight."

He turned and ran along the corridor. Harry and the girls followed at a much calmer pace until they were out of sight of the professor. Then Harry pulled his invisibility cloak over them. John reached the office door of Quirrell, they kids were only a few feet away… and watched in abject horror as John was struck down by a green curse. Killing curse green.

"Jo…!" Hermione started to shout, but Harry clamped his hand over her mouth.

Harry pulled Hermione and Luna to the wall. Just in time as Quirrell run from the room and past them. Hermione was now crying openly, but Harry tried to calm her down.

"He's not dead, Hermione. Listen, he's not dead. He's fine."

He placed his arms around the distraught girl. Luna was calm, she knew that more was needed to kill John. They went to John's fallen body. Hermione just cried harder as she saw her best friends father lying on the floor with his eyes open and lifeless.

"Dad prove her that you are still here."

For a second nothing happened. Then a piece of paper appeared in front of Hermione. It floated in front of her until she took it in her hands. With quick eyes she read the letter and then smiled a little.

"But how is this possible?"

Harry took her by the shoulders. "Later. I don't think we have much time. We need to get the stone!"

Luna meanwhile plucked another letter from the air. "Yeah, John doesn't like it, but he agrees. He tells us to be careful. And you should take your special items with you."

She said the last bit while looking at Harry. The boy nodded and subconsciously copied his dad. He held out his hand and teleported his things to him. His staff was in his hand and the stone in his pocket.

"Okay let's go."

The Girls nodded, determined. A third letter appeared in front of Harry.

"John says that he needs a while still. The curse stripped away most of his energy and he will join us as soon as he can. If we get into any tight spots he says that we should play for time."

The trio quickly made their way to the third corridor and the door that they had accidentally opened on their first day.

Taking a deep breath Harry opened the door.

Inside they found the Cerberus snoring on the floor. The trapdoor in the ground was open and an enchanted harp played a soft song in one of the corners.

Harry took his place at the edge of the shaft leading down. He nodded to the girls.

"Here goes nothing!"

Taking a deep breath, he jumped down the rectangular hole. He landed on a soft surface and called up to the girls.

"The floor is padded, you can come down."

Just after, he noticed that something was off.

"No, don't jum..." He began, but twin thuds to his left, told him that it was too late.

Harry had felt the tentacle like roots that had begun to ensnare his ankles. They snaked higher and higher to his calfs and thighs.

"It's a Devil's snare. Quick somebody set it on fire." He managed to gasp out as another root wrapped round his torso.

"I can't reach my wand." Hermione' hands had been bound to her side by the plant.

"Me neither!" Luna chocked out, the Snare had already pulled roots over her mouth.

Harry's body sent emergency signals to his brain. The lack of air and the pain from his bruised ribs made his head swim. He put all of his focus on the snare by his right hand and the staff that had landed close to it. Luckily the plant ignored the inanimate object and focused solely on her live prey.

The roots around his wrist withered, shriveled up and turned into ashes. This allowed him to tear his hand free and grab the staff. He was barely conscious as he sent out the normally low powered flame spell silently.

The entire plant dissolved into ashes and floating pieces of ember. Harry fell unconscious as he hit the ground beneath the trap.

* * *

"Harry!"

He awoke with a start.

"Thank goodness, you're still alive."

Harry had no chance to reply anything, as two pairs of arms and two masses of blonde and brown hair took his sight. After the bone crushing hug had ended, he noticed that both of the girls looked slightly singed.

Luna's blonde hair had blackened tips and looked sooty all around. The soot on her face gave her a much darker complexion that she usually had.

Hermione's curls had a curled up even more, giving her the appearance of a frizzy ball. Some ashes had landed on her hair, making her look like she had gone gray prematurely.

Harry scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

"Looks like I didn't have as much control over the spell as I thought I would."

"Never mind that right now, you can treat us to the hairdresser another day. We have much more important things to do now."

Hermione's voice was calm and collected, but hinted at the panic that was barley hidden beneath.

"She right, you know. Hair can be regrown, lives can not. You saved us."

Luna was much calmer inside than Hermione, she somehow knew that everything should be fine at the end.

They went on to the next chamber and, upon entering, quickly notice the glistening bird-like creatures that flew above them.

"Keys!" Harry said. The girls tried to make out any details but failed.

"How can you see them from down here?" Hermione was a bit indignant.

Harry just shrugged and Luna called from the other side of the room.

"It will be a big one, old and made of brass."

Harry looked up again. "I can see it. I always wanted to try this. Accio Key."

To their surprise nothing happened.

Hermione was shocked. "The spell didn't work?"

Harry shook his head. "It did. I felt it work. This has to be Flitwick's work, he must have protected them from being summoned."

Harry frowned, then smiled. "But he couldn't have..." He focused hard for a moment and teleported the key into his hand. He grinned. "As great a charms master he might be, but teleportation is just too unknown."

He sent a quick mental 'Thank you' to John, for showing him that trick. Harry got a small telepathic nudge in return. This made Harry extremely happy. It showed that John got stronger again. If his regenerative pattern was consistent, it would continue to speed up exponentially.

They used the key to open the door and moved forward to the next chamber.

The room they entered was pitch black. They had crossed it about halfway, when torches lit up on the walls of this room. They stood in the center of a giant chess board facing the white chess pieces. All around the board, there were broken pieces of stone where the fallen pieces had been smashed or were roughly taken off the board.

The trio continued on but the white pawns blocked their path as they tried to move past them.

Harry gave a frustrated shout. "Arrrgh! I don't have time for this kind of shit! Reducto!"

The tip of his staff glowed red for a moment and the stone figures that stood in there path a second ago, including the king and queen behind them, simply atomized. Harry continued to the door that now lay in front of them.

Hermione had wanted to admonish her friend for his use of foul language, but the words died on her lips at the display of power he'd just managed. She and Luna followed Harry to the door and both noticed the chess pieces on either side inching away from them.

They knew that magical chess pieces were only sentient in the loosest sense of the term. For them to fear Harry...well he had made quite an impression on them.

The children entered the next chamber and had to fight back the bile that rose in their throats. The smell was overpowering. In the middle of the room lay a giant troll. Giant, even in comparison to the one Harry had already seen. Luckily it was unconscious. The puddle of blood and the labored breath of the troll clued them in on the fact that the creature was fighting for its life.

"I'm glad we don't have to deal with him." Luna's voice was far from the chipper tone it usually held. She took a weak healing potion from her bag and poured it into the trolls wounds. "But I don't think that was necessary."

Both her friends nodded. Knocking the beast out was okay in their books. Killing it? Also fine if you had to, but there was no need to torture the creature.

Hurrying along they made their way into the next room. Immediately red flames sprung up behind them and black ones in the doorway across from them.

Harry was fuming a bit. "What now!?"

He went to the table that stood in the middle of the room. There were seven bottles on it, in varying shapes and sizes. He read the letter that lay right in front of the bottles.

"Well that was simple." He took the smallest of the bottles. "Girls, I can feel that John will come back any second. Please wait here. He can teleport down here to me. I will in the meantime play for time."

"You're not going on alone." Hermione was furious.

Luna was equally enraged. "Not without us, you're not!"

Harry sighed. "Look there is only enough potion for me in here."

Hermione's lips thinned into a line. "For a smart, gifted person, you can be incredibly dense sometimes, Potter." She really made for a convincing McGonagal there.

Harry stared at his friend blankly.

"Simple, you go through." He nodded. "Then you teleport back here." He nodded again. "Then you take us with you back in there.

Harry's palm hit his forehead. "Of course. I'm really dense sometimes. It's really easy to forget you can teleport, when you're not supposed to use it all the time."

He chucked the bottle down and felt like his insides froze over. With a quick skip he was gone through the flames, but didn't return immediately. After a minute had gone by, the girls were worried. After five minutes, they started to panic. After ten minutes, they were unable to have a coherent thought.

* * *

John returned to his body and the magic started to repair the damage, that being dead had inflicted on him. He made for an impressive sight with sparks of magic dancing around him. He waited for a moment longer and inflated his lungs for the first time in half almost an hour.

"Quirrell!"

His shout echoed through the halls of Hogwarts. To his surprise he no longer was in the corridor, but had been moved to a bed in the infirmary. Madame Pompfrey, the schools healer, shot out of her office. She saw the presumed dead man sit up in his bed. The Healer, who had seen a lot in the last war, gave a frightened shout and fainted. The dead coming back to life proved to be too much.

John suck out his hand and caught her fall midair, he levitated her on one of the free beds. He took a second to remove the memory from Madame Pomfrey's mind. Then he felt around the castle. The first thing he came across, were the energy of the girls, which pulsated in panic. Acting on instinct alone, John teleported to them.

He landed in a small chamber and the transport strained him more than he would have thought. Hermione and Luna shot to him and he embraced them in hopes to calm them down. They were frantic and crying and both tried to explain the situation at the same time.

"Calm down, then one of you tells me what's happening here."

They both calmed, but it still took Luna a minute to get started with her tale.

"Harry! He was supposed to come back and get us, but that was already ten minutes ago. He's been gone since. What if Voldemort got him, what if he killed him!"

John felt for his son and felt his energy close by. The boy seemed strained and nervous, but otherwise he seemed to be fine.

"Calm down, Harry is okay. A bit tired maybe, but okay."

Now both girls calmed down enough for John to consider his next steps.

"I'll send you back up to the entrance hall, go and find McGonagal or Flitwick. Have them get the other teachers and tell them to go down here. Snape knows how to disarm his own trap. Ready?"

Both girls nodded and John teleported them to the main doors and he traveled to Harry's essence as he felt it. He stumbled right into a big room, with a big mirror on a dais.

* * *

Harry went through the flames and entered another room where in the middle, on a raised platform, there was a big mirror. Right in front of the mirror, Quirrell stood and peered into it. As Harry made the first step into the room, the man turned to face him.

"Potter! Why am I not surprised to see you here? What do you want? The Stone? Revenge for the man you call a father?"

Harry was nervous, but opted to give a smug smile.

"Quirrell. Why am I not surprised that even your stutter is fake? Are you really that much of a dick? Why do you want the stone? Do you want it for yourself?"

"No! Never for myself, for my master… This mirror has me confused though. I can see myself as I grab the stone. I can see myself giving the stone to my master. But it doesn't show me how to get it."

From somewhere another voice cut in. It was wheezy and high pitched.

"Use the boy, you moron."

"But how!?" Quirrell whined.

"Let me talk to him. Face to face!"

"Master? Are you sure you're strong enough for this?"

"Fool, I have plenty of strength to face a child."

Quirrell snapped his wand down and Harry felt his arms bound to his side by conjured ropes. His staff fell to the ground.

He felt himself being floated to the dais in the middle of the room. Quirrell in the meantime unwrapped the turban from his head and turned around.

"Holy fuck!" Harry was unable to keep that sentiment to himself.

The face that grew out the back of Quirrell's head chuckled.

"Yes, now you see what you made of me. A specter that has to posses animals and weaker wizards."

The host of Lord Voldemort gave a quiet whimper.

"The rebound killing curse that gave you this scar and took my body almost ended me. Luckily I had taken enough precautions to not die."

Harry quickly checked his basic occlumency shields and was satisfied to find them still in place. He quickly secured the memories of the Horcruxes deep down in his mind.

"Really? How did you do that? Not dying sounds like a pretty awesome ability to have."

The face of Voldemort laughed quietly. "Yes it does. Follow me Harry Potter and I will share this secret with you. Take your time to think about it. For now look in the mirror."

Harry turned to the silver surface right next to him. He saw the inscription on the frame.

'Heart's desire, hmm?' Harry quickly focused on finding the stone. He had no interest in it, other than to return it to Nicholas Flamel. His eyes went to his doppelganger. The reflection winked at him and pulled the stone from his right pocket, let the stone glide back in it and the real Harry felt a weight being added to his left pocket.

Quirrellmort beside him grew impatient. "Well what do you see?"

"Myself? This room? It's a mirror after all." He felt the weak legilimency probe swipe over his shields.

"No...Nothing else? Nothing at all?" The snakelike eyes of Voldemort widened almost comically.

"No, just me."

Quirrell got really nervous by now. "Master, we should hurry… Potter surely will be missed by now."

"Quiet you fool." Quirrell gave a pained shout.

"Come on now Potter, I'm sure you desire at least something in you live. Something you don't have. Your Parents? Your Guardian, that just died…." Voldemort tried again.

He was startled as Harry began to laugh.

"What is it? Why are you laughing? STOP IT!" The evil spirit grew very impatient with the impertinent boy.

"Funny that you would think that John is dead."

"Quirrell hit him with the killing curse. Square in the chest. He's dead." Voldemort looked very smug, while Quirrell made a strangled sound.

"Nope, he'll be down here soon. He'll probably kick your rotting ass around this chamber for a while before he ends you." Harry's smile had grown sinister. He could feel his father close by and knew that he would be here any second now.

"Why, you insolent little whelp! Crucio!"

The red beam made its way towards Harry. He used a wandless cutting spell on the ropes that bound him and dove for his staff. From the corner of his eyes, he saw John teleport in.

* * *

John quickly sprung into action, as he saw a second Cruciatus curse headed for his son. With a gesture of his hand he pulled the Mirror of Erised into the curses path. Its surface rippled once, then twice and the looking glass burst into a million sharp pieces. John banished them all into Quirrellmort.

The man was quicker than anyone would give him credit for and managed to dodge most of the shrapnel. He dove forward and managed to grasp Harry's wrist. Not for long though, as a subconscious defense mechanism, magic channeled into Harry's skin. Quirrell released him quickly, the palms of his hands were horribly burned.

During their short skirmish, the two stones Harry had had in his pocket fell to the ground and broke. Pieces of stone and mirror now lay everywhere on the ground.

Harry used the moment of distraction and channeled magic into his staff. Without thinking he released it in Quirrellmort's direction. Like it had done before, the magic took the form of a lightning bolt.

John and Harry quickly averted their eyes, but the light that flooded through their eyelids was still intense, so intense, that they needed a few seconds till they could see again.

The thunder that followed, however rendered them deaf. Their eardrums had been destroyed. Quirrell's body was vaporized, but Voldemort's spirit remained for a few seconds after the fact. He screamed at them and threatened them, but all in vain as they could neither see nor hear him.

As he fled, he tried to posses Harry for a moment, but his magic was too strange and too different, he couldn't even begin to connect with the boy. One thing he was sure about was that the Potter brood would be the first to pay, once he was back in a body.

Voldemort fled the room through the walls, as long as he could still stay in this form without the need to posses another living thing. He would need to find a rat or mouse to inhabit. Then he could flee from the grounds and find a better, more suitable host.

He would be back.

* * *

John went to Harry and healed their burst eardrums. Now that they could see and hear again, Harry had a question for his dad.

"Is it over?"

"No, he fled. He'll be back for sure."

Harry's eyes fell on the floor, where the pieces of stone were still strewn.

"Oh no! Both of the stones are broken. How can this be?"

He knelt down and inspected the shards. A loud 'Caw!' made both of them flinch. The dead raven swooped down from the ceiling. It landed in front of the broken pieces. The undead creature then used it's beak to sort the pieces into piles. One pile for the mirror, one for the stone it had brought and one for the sorcerers stone.

After it was done it sat there, looking at Harry expectantly. The lad tried to touch the stone that he knew was his and the raven pecked him. Hard. The beak of the creature actually went through his hand and back out the other side.

"Ahh!"

Droplets of blood hit the stone pile and the pieces started to glow.

"Ohhh…! There was no need to peck me that hard however." He told the critter a bit crossly.

'CAW!' was the only answer he got in return and the raven indicated the pile of sorcerers stone pieces with his beak.

"What do you want now?" Harry was not in the mood for playing charade with a raven.

The animal gave him a look that made it clear to him that, if the raven had had a palm and a forehead, said palm would have hit said forehead right now. Instead it went to the pile and picked up a piece with its beak.

Harry reached out and took one of the pieces, smearing the entire pile with his blood in the progress. With a flash the stone's pieces were gone and Harry's hand was healed. John behind him had been quiet during the alteration, now gasped.

Turning around, Harry spotted his guardian looking quite pale now.

"What's the matter?"

"You just absorbed the sorcerer's stone. It's now there inside your magic."

"WHAT! Why can't, just for once, everything around me be normal?"

Shaking the shock from his mind, John started chuckling.

"Stop it."

The chuckle turned into full blown laughter.

"I said stop it!"

John was almost in hysterics now. Harry knew that anything he said now would only make it worse, so he kept quiet. Instead he took one of the glowing stone pieces… and swallowed it. He couldn't say why he did it, but it seemed to be the right thing to do.

Continuing on, he had soon swallowed the whole pile, then there was a flash and both of them lay there unconscious.

* * *

It was to this scene, that the professors of Hogwarts, Luna, Hermione and Nicholas Flamel, entered the room only two minutes later. The large soot stain on the ground was identified to be mostly Quirinius Quirrell. The broken mirror on the floor was mourned by Nicholas, who had lent it to Dumbledore, just like he had given him the stone for safekeeping.

It was weird to him that he could feel the stone in the room, but couldn't pinpoint it's location. He inspected the people on the ground and, while John had told him that they were different, he was still shocked at the magic he found in them. In Harry he finally found the signature of his stone, but it was different than before.

Minerva McGonagal was the first to speak to him. "Can you find your stone here Nicholas?"

"No, but I can feel it. It must have been destroyed."

Minerva gave a startled gasp. "Then...then you will die!"

"Not immediately, no. I have a bit of Elixir stashed away, so my wife and I can live long enough to settle our affairs, not that there are a lot, but then we will die, yes."

Nicholas didn't seem upset by it, he sounded like the weather was just a bit rainy today. All fell quiet for a second after.

Hermione and Luna had gone past everyone and had checked up on Harry and John as soon as they had entered the chamber. Both were breathing and alive. The relieved girls only now actually listening to what was said around them.

Poppy Pomfrey was adamant that she had to move both Harry and John to the infirmary, and check on them. She had been caught sleeping in one of the sickbeds earlier and was not in the mood to have another lapse today.

* * *

In the end it took both John and Harry four hours to come around again and they both were tense and incredibly edgy.

They both wanted to leave, but Poppy was adamant that they would stay in her care for the night. Dumbledore later tried to come into the infirmary, but Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let him in. He was even ordering her to step aside, but she only informed him that her authority was higher when the health of her patients was concerned. And so Dumbledore had to wait the night until he could speak to them.

A little later that night, Harry and Hermione had already fallen asleep, as John felt someone sit on his bed. He looked up and saw Luna, looking a bit cross.

"Did you lie to me? Or did you simply forget?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Lie to you? About what?" John was confused.

"Ohh… so you simply forgot." She uncrossed her arms.

"Forgot what?" John was slowly growing desperate. He had a lot on his mind and Luna's antics didn't improve the jumbled mess, that was his mind.

"You told me that you would tell me, tell me when you remembered who you were. You promised me on the first day, when we just had met."

* * *

A/N2: Sorry for the cliffhangerish end there, but I simply had to leave it there. I will use the next chapter to explain and for the end of first year.


	12. A Flamel, Closure and The Elixir of Life

A/N: Hey, Guys. This will be the last chapter in the first year. Hope you all had fun with the story so far.

A big thank you to my beta, who has had a lot of work with my writing.

This time you got the chapter a bit faster again. :-)

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

" _You told me that you would tell me, tell me when you remembered who you were. You promised me on the first day, when we just had met."_

John looked dumbfounded at the young girl. It took him a moment to remember the strange girl that had opened the door for him, all that time ago. She had immediately called him out on NOT being _exactly_ who he claimed to be.

"Yes, you're right. I forgot... I have a lot on my mind right now. I… WE will tell you everything later, when all of us are assembled. That way we only have to recount the story once."

Luna wasn't happy about that, she hated to wait, but she could live with a little more waiting.

"Why is there so much tension between you and Harry right now?"

John gave a sad chuckle. "You felt that, didn't you?"

Luna nodded and so he continued. "I failed him. You will hear later how, but for now, know that I failed him. In the one moment he needed me the most. I was so focused on my past, I completely forgot about him. It breaks my heart. I promised him to be there, to help him along the way and I failed. There were reasons for it, but none can excuse my shortcomings. I feel so much pain right now and can't express any of it."

John started crying. Luna had never seen John cry before. It was a lot like when her daddy mourned her mommy. There was so little hope in his sobs. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Luna's next words could have been considered funny.

"Who did you lose?" She asked him the exact same question, he had asked her back at the rookery, more than a year ago.

The crying from the man intensified. He bit his answer out between sobs.

"My...wife and… son!"

Luna waited until his sobs quieted down. She felt a lot of sorrow had left him and a little of the pain as well. She gave him a hug.

"You don't have to be there for us all the time. Sometimes we can be there for you as well. We are a family. Families fight and laugh together, but they also share their pain with each other. You lost people important to you. That was probably a long time ago, but time doesn't heal all wounds. Some can only be healed by love."

He gave a sad smile. "When did you get so wise?"

She made a mock serious thinking face. "I probably was all along, but you never listen."

Unbeknownst to them, Harry had been lying in his bed, awake, and had heard the entire conversation.

'Maybe' He thought. 'Maybe Luna is right. John couldn't help it and he was tricked, too. Maybe I shouldn't hold it against him.'

As subtly and as quietly as he could, he wiped the tears from his face and tried to sleep again.

It was twenty minutes later, when both John and Harry had finally fallen asleep.

* * *

The next morning brought examinations, breakfast and diagnostic spells. Soon after, it brought Dumbledore.

"How are both of you this morning?" His grandfatherly persona was in full force.

John, who just wanted to have a quiet word with his son, sighed exasperatedly.

"We're fine, we just want to leave." He shot a medium glare between Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore.

"I just wanted to thank you for your quick intervention yesterday and to inform you that the stone was destroyed. Luckily for us, so Voldemort can never try this way again for his resurrection. Nicholas… confirmed the stones destruction on site. He wants to have a word with both of you before he leaves. He now has a lot of formalities to take care of."

He looked at Harry and awaited the flood of questions he expected from him, but none came. The boy just sat on his bed looking dejected and sad.

'Could I've been wrong all this time?'

It was an uncharacteristic thought for him and it confused him. Dumbledore left the infirmary without as much as another word.

Nicholas Flamel entered the small room. He took one long look at both of them.

"Should we have our talk later? You two look like you could do with one yourselves."

Harry spoke for them this time. "Yes, please? Soon though, I think, it's overdue."

Nicholas just chuckled and left.

Harry turned to John, but didn't manage to look him in the eye.

"I heard what you and Luna said last night. I guess I can't really hold it against you. I'd have probably done the same in your situation. I felt so lost though, so alone..." He looked up and locked his eyes on John's. "It was hard to come to terms with you just running out of sight, into what could have very well meant death for you."

John had to avert his eyes. "I would be lying, if I told you I hadn't thought of staying there..."

Harry interrupted him. "As did I, but we both came back. More importantly, you came back to me. You had no reason to, but you came."

John wiped away a few stray tears. "Of course I did."

"Dad, look at me."

John raised his eyes again. Hope fluttered in his chest.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're still my father. Am I still your son?"

John choked up. "You'll always be!"

They both stood and hugged the life from each other. Each shed tears of pain and sorrow.

After a long, cleansing cry, they dressed and, with the approval of Madame Pomfrey, left the infirmary. It was a quiet Saturday and so they went in search of Professor McGonagall. They asked for the use of the Antechamber, they had used before.

* * *

It was an hour later, when all of them had assembled in the small room of to the side from the Great Hall.

Around the table sat the Grangers, Xeno, Hermione, Luna and Nicholas Flamel. Most of the present stared in shock at the ancient wizard.

John cleared his throat and began their explanation.

"Friends, we have called you here to share some information with you. Yesterday we bested the soul fragment of Voldemort that, upon his demise, had still inhabited his body. This piece managed to flee and is still on the loose. The body of Quirinius Quirrell, who had served as a willing host, was destroyed."

He made a small pause to let the information sink in.

"Due to circumstances, that we ourselves can't fully explain, Harry and I transcended the mortal plane shortly afterwards."

Emma Granger interrupted him. "You DIED!?"

"No… our bodies were completely intact and working, awaiting the return of our souls. Merely our minds and magic made their way into the plane above this one. There we came face to face with Death."

Xeno interjected. "You mean to say, that you faced death there?"

"Yes, in a way, we came face to face with personified Death. Just like in the tale of the three brothers..."

* * *

Harry and John opened their eyes and found themselves standing in a meadow. A lazy little creek garbled past them. A heavy haze hung in the air.

"You've finally found your way to me!"

They both whipped around and came face to face with a tall being in a black cloak. The hood covered the face and the hands that held the giant scythe, were bonelike and thin.

Harry and John were shocked, had they died? Death gave a hearty laugh, well as hearty as he could.

"No, you are not dead. As of now, you..." He pointed at John. "...are very hard to kill, while you, young Mr. Potter, are almost immortal now. I had a hand in that of course."

Harry's mind needed a long second to grasp what Death had just told him.

"Does this mean, that I can't die?"

"Why, of course you CAN die, if you WANT to that is. My realm is open to you, both of you, at any time you wish, but once you pass on you can never return."

Death made a pause so they could understand.

"You can however visit with the dead, as long as it's within reason of course."

"I could see my parents? Talk to them? Touch them?" Harry felt as if he was going to faint.

"Yes, yes of course you can." Death switched his attention to John. "Your family is also here."

"My family?"

"Yes, but you locked your memory away. I will tell you the passphrase to it, but not yet. You both should anger me more than you actually do. This surprises me. I should both just keep you here, give balance to the world and all that crap, but there is one that angers me even more."

John shook the thought of his lost memories from his head. "Voldemort!"

Death nodded. "He actively circumvented his own death. You, both of you, are freaks of nature. Please excuse this figure of speech. But if I didn't misjudge you both, you'll one day become part of this realm, eventually you'll die. Not him though, he'd never die of his own choice. I want him destroyed and sent here. Your continued existence is small price to pay to get him here."

Both Harry and John could hear the anger in Death's rather lifeless voice.

"The raven is yours, right?" Harry wanted to know.

"Yes and yours now as well. What your Guardian didn't realize when he saved you, he made you the Master of Death, as you mortals call it. I gave you the tools for it. It was thought to be the other way around that, if you gather all the tools you would become the master. Makes no sense what so ever to me. I would also rather say, that you're my champion in the mortal realm. You can ask me for help, but never order me around."

Harry nodded, it made sense in a weird way.

"The tools are the stone and the cloak, right?"

"Yes, but there's more. Your staff and the book. You couldn't read it up until now, but now that the stone is a part of you, you should be able to."

"The staff?" John asked. "I thought it was supposed to be a wand."

Death nodded. "It has been in the past. But I thought you could use a better focus. The wand is still around, but it's just that, a wand, now. Now it's time for you to leave us!" He pointed in John's direction.

John shook his head. "Never, I swore to be by Harry's side till the end."

Death's laugh sounded threatening. "I thought you might say that, I would say that I'm sorry, but that would be lying. 'A crown made of thorns and thistles, sweet death let me rest my wary head.'

A stream of memories tore through his head and he was two people at once. Pain, so much pain and sorrow flooded his system. After a quick internal struggle he barked out a single word. "Where?"

Death pointed to a door behind him. John ran for it and was through before Harry's shout of "JOHN!" had stopped ringing in their ears.

* * *

"You simply left him there with Death? He could have DIED! You could have DIED!"

Emma Granger was enraged. She had jumped up and slammed her palms on the table.

"Yes, I did. It's nothing I'm proud of and luckily Harry has forgiven me, even if I myself haven't. I had just regained all my memories of my wife and son, and all of my emotions were so out of whack, that I couldn't control myself. It's no excuse, but it's what happened."

John was hanging his head in shame. Harry tried to placate the raging mother lion.

"I was very mad at John right after it had happened, but I have come to understand, that John simply had to go see his family. I would have done the same in his place and when I later got to see my parents, I thought about staying."

Shocked gasps were heard in the room.

"Now let me continue where John left of." Harry said.

* * *

Harry felt lost, extremely lost. He stood in a foreign place, with Death right beside him and the one person that was supposed to have his back, simply upped and ran away. He felt hurt and he felt anger.

"Now that he is out of the way. There are somethings we have to speak about."

Harry was wary of Death and very reluctant to agree. Death laughed.

"Now, you absorbed the sorcerers stone. This gives you some very special abilities. Probably some regenerative abilities and advanced healing powers. There will be more effects of this integration, but what exactly is not yet certain. The resurrection stone, which is now also a part of you, allows you access to the realm of the dead. You can talk to any deceased at any time you like to and gather information that way. Despite its name, you can NOT bring anyone back from the dead. It's a misnomer if you will."

Harry tried to absorb all this information, but had incredible difficulties to process everything.

"The cloak will make you invisible from anyone you wish. You can wear it and it will make you invisible at will or even only invisible or visible for selective people. It will never hide you from me!"

Harry nodded.

"The Staff is the most powerful focus in the mortal realm. It can however be destroyed and once gone, it's gone for good. The book is another special item, read it as soon as you can and come back to it every once in a while. It will give you new information as soon as it's available. In it there are spells and rituals of the necromantic arts. You'll find, you'll have a knack for it. There is more information in it, but you'll find that on your own."

The young boy's head was spinning.

"Now of course you're allowed to share these information with your family and friends, but I got rid of 'John' because I didn't want him interfering with this."

Death placed his bony hand on Harry's head and the boy suddenly felt all kinds of energies flowing through his soul. Kinks were removed and his magic straightened out. His soul and magic were now perfectly interwoven.

Harry fell to the ground and screamed while he dissolved and reformed at the same time. He gasped in pain, but it faded in the same moment it had started. It was more like a pain he had felt all the time and now it was gone.

"Better, isn't it?"

He didn't know what to say, so Harry just nodded. Death led him along a short path and showed him a door.

"Behind this are your parents and a few others of your family. They want to talk to you and share some knowledge they think you should have. Once you are done, simply tell the space around you that you want to return. A bit of time has passed in your world, about four hours, but no more time will pass now."

Harry nodded again went to the door, but before he opened it, he turned around.

"Thank you, I guess."

Death just waved his hand for him to go ahead.

Harry went through the door to see his family.

* * *

"We both met with our families there and we spoke long with them. They shared a lot of knowledge with us, that will help us end the unnatural creature that is Voldemort."

Nicholas, who had been silent the entire time, had a question for Harry.

"Am I right in my assumption, that you are now able to produce the elixir of life at will."

Harry nodded. "I think so."

He waved his hand over the water jug on the table and it immediately turned crimson.

Nicholas nodded and smiled. "Might I suggest, that every one of the assembled drink from this."

John smiled and after a wave of his hand a cup appeared in front of every one but him and Harry. To their shock Nicholas turned the cup over and refused the elixir.

"I have lived long enough and if your little tale taught me anything, then that our families wait on the other side. Perenell have outlived our own children, as they refused the elixir. It's time to move on. We will live long enough to make all the preparations and then I will greet Death as the old friend he is."

John looked a bit uneasy with the next bit he had to say.

"Actually Nicholas, we would like to ask a favor of you, before you pass on that is."

Nicholas laughed. "To teach Harry alchemy?" They nodded. "Oh, I can still do that from the afterlife. Have you forgotten what you just told us? I will be more than happy to set a few hours aside a day, just call for me."

Both Harry and John looked dumbfounded at the ancient wizard. Then they joined in with Nicholas and laughed. The ancient one rose.

"I have to leave you here. Time is not a unlimited resource now. It feels very exciting."

He bade them goodbye and left the small antechamber.

Luna got back to her question. "So who are you then John?"

The man in question chuckled.

"My name is actually Jonathan. I was born to a carpenter, so I was called John Carpenter. A bit later my magical abilities were discovered and an old mage took me on as child and apprentice. Else my parents would have probably killed me, they were very religious. I learned everything I knew from the old man, before he died one day. I was a fairly young wizard back then. I had a good bit of ability and a feel for my magic a lot of other magic users lacked. I discovered other ways of doing magic."

John paused to clear his throat and drink a sip of water.

"The King of France was looking for a magician. My name was told to him and after a few demonstrations, I was hired. I was paid good for the times and I found a companion in one of the maids. After asking for her hand, the king released her to me. We married and I got the title of Johnathan Magus. We had a child, a son."

A few tears escaped Johns eyes.

"My wife was pregnant again and the king came to me with a request. Even if he hadn't been the king, a man I couldn't refuse, I still would have done it. I was still young and my head was bigger than France. He wanted to be immortal. I of course knew of Nicholas and I wanted to best him. I wanted to produce the sorcerers stone inside of the king, so everything he would drink would turn into the elixir of life."

He gave a very sad laugh.

"I was so stupid. I had only the vaguest hint of alchemic knowledge. Needless to say, it failed. Spectacularly."

John rubbed his face with his palms.

"It killed everyone in the castle. Only my quick channeling of magic into myself and into my soul, stopped it from being everyone in France. After I had woken up again, I realized that my family was dead. My memories tortured me for a week, I couldn't eat, nor sleep. I needed to get on with my life and I knew that I wouldn't die anymore. Believe me I had tried to die. I did the only thing I knew to get on. I locked my memories away and left the castle and France. Some years later, my body was destroyed and I continued on without. I left this realm for higher dimensions and only returned after I felt Harry's magic about to self destruct."

John ended his tale and only now realized, how quiet the room had become. The girls were still wiping at their tears and the men were now trying to blame the dry air for their moist eyes.

Luna stood and went to him. She gave him a big hug and smile.

"Welcome John Magus, now John Potter. We like to have you here."

The hug soon became a group thing.

* * *

Their talk had left them very tired and so they retired to bed soon that day. They felt lighter and heavier at the same time. Harry took a look at the pendant, now that Quirrel was gone, it only gave of a much more subdued blue glow.

The red glow had seemingly come from the sentient soul piece that was Voldemort. They had taken a quick look through the seventh floor after their talk, thinking that they might find the hidden horcrux. The signals they got from the pendant were confusing and John concluded that it must have been hidden magically.

They decided to leave it there for now. If Voldemort had hidden the item there with magic, it was highly unlikely that a school child would accidentally find it. They would later come to regret that decision.

* * *

The rest of their last week at Hogwarts passed quietly. They all had top marks in their classes, with Neville, Susan and Hannah a close second to them. Hannah had joined their study sessions early in the year, but always had to do that extra bit of work to keep up.

Soon they were in the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast. The Headmaster's spot at the head table was empty, as it had been for the past few days. Professor McGonagall was in the middle of her speech, when the door behind her opened silently and Dumbledore quietly crept to his chair. She motioned for him to take the stage, but he just shook his head.

He didn't look good, hair and beard were unkempt and he constantly asked himself where he had gone wrong with his plans. There were some factors in his equations, that he either had miscalculated or left out altogether. He had planned on awarding the boy and his friends some last minute points, to make them indebted, but somehow they had managed to be on top anyway. Even with Severus, they had managed to make the House Cup,with Hufflepuff a close second. He would have to find out what he had done wrong and then correct the issue.

* * *

The next morning, the trio of friends boarded the train home. Neville, Susan and Hannah joined their compartment. The train ride was pleasant with the exception of two short visits.

* * *

They had barely made it half an hour into the ride when the door opened and Draco Malfoy came inside. He was flanked by his usual goons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"Well, well, well Potter." He drawled. "My father won't like what you have done down there you know. But now that we know that the Dark Lord isn't dead, it's time to rid the world of all kinds of scum."

The pointed look he threw into Hermione's direction, immediately put him onto first place of Harry's shit list. He stood and used his wand to push Crab and Goyle out of the compartment and slam the door shut.

"I would be very careful of what I say, Malfoy. I've already heard that you're quite the bully. I _hate_ bullies." Harry took a deep breath. "Today, I am in a terribly good mood, okay? So I'm going to let you of easy. So run back to your own compartment and leave us alone, will you?"

Harry, who had started glowing, had his eyes fixed on Malfoy's. The other boy managed to give a strangled sound and went for the door. It took a moment for him to get it open and he then went straight down the corridor, giving his goons barely enough time to throw them a threatening glare.

Luna gave Harry hard look. "What did you do to him?"

Trying his best to look innocent, Harry tried. "Nothing?"

Luna just continued to give him the look and now Hermione joined in.

Harry sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay, you caught me. I cursed him."

"You did what!?" Two voices simultaneously screamed at him. Harry held up his hands to calm the irate witches down.

"Nothing bad, just something I read about, call it poetic justice. It's a time duration thing and only ever held 6 hours at the longest."

He was still getting the evil eye from Hermione and Luna. Neville, Susan and Hannah now looked on with interest. Since when did Harry curse someone?

"It only activates when he acts out of line, it's a parenting tool really. Much like giving naughty kids a clap on the fingers."

"What happens when it does activate?" Neville asked out of idle curiosity.

Harry went a bit red in the face. "He feels a pressing need to use the bathroom. It won't hurt him or force him to have accidents. It just forces him to stop what he's doing."

Neville had to laugh at that and Hannah, as well as Susan, joined in. Hermione and Luna managed to resist a bit longer, but soon gave up the fight and laughed as well.

Little did they know, just how powerful Harry was.

* * *

The second visit happened sometime into their fourth hour of the ride.

Ron Weasley entered their compartment. It seemed like he hadn't been sleeping well lately.

"Potter…. It's all your fault!" He bit out.

"What?" Harry had given little to no thought to the youngest Weasley boy in the last few months.

"Your fault I had all those detentions this year, because of that I couldn't learn properly, because of that I failed this year, because of that I'm going to have to go through first year again next year. And you broke the sorting hat...because of that I'm a Hufflepuff. I can't take it anymore and it's all your fault."

Six faces looked at him quizzically. Not one of them could make any sense of what the boy was saying. He drew his wand and tried to curse Harry… with a curse he had only ever heard of before… once at that.

A loud bang was heard and Ronald Weasely's wand, which was not well suited in the first place, had exploded with quite a bit of force. His hand was a mangled mess and thousands of splinters had embedded into his flesh. This led to Luna performing some basic first aid, something she had a knack for and they called the conductor.

An emergency portkey was used, to take him to St. Mungo's where he could be treated. Professor Sprout would later visit him and tell him that he would continue his detentions all of next year. He would have been expelled had the incident happened on the school grounds.

* * *

Once the Hogwarts Express had pulled into Kings Cross Station. Harry and the others got off and were happy to see their families waiting on them.

After some heartfelt hello's and goodbye's they all made their way to their respective homes.

It was going to be a great summer.

* * *

This Story will be continued in Harry Potter, Keeper of Life (previewed here):

….

Harry was nervous. The first week of the summer holidays was almost over.

Today they were guests of the Goblin nation and soon he and John would have to present their gifts to the leaders.

These gifts would decide over their standing in that nation and their support within it. Harry's hands were sweating and he recited the ritual words in the goblin tongue, over and over in his head.

He looked over to John, who looked to be at peace with himself. Then the drums started outside, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Point of no return. He steeled himself and went outside.

A round million of torches lit the giant cavern. Seemingly all of the nation had assembled before them and the elders stood waiting at the end of a small path over the heads of everyone.

….

* * *

Hope to see you back for the next chapter in the Master of Death series.


	13. KoL: Goblins are People too, you know!

A/N:

Okay...Okay, I have been gone for a long time...I know, but I'd rather keep you waiting, than deliver sub par material. After losing this chapter a couple of times, being dissatisfied with the quality and going back to change things around… I was quite fed up and the motivation to continue was rather low.

Add to the misfortune of this chapter, that I, right now, am glad to have the time of day to sleep and rest somewhat (big increase in the workload at my day job) and I try to squeeze the words from my mind at every convenience… It just becomes to much at times.

Nonetheless I have not abandoned this fic! I will tell you if I ever do. (Not that I plan to) Just try to have some more patience at times and there might be times where I feel up to posting at least a chapter a month, there might also be gaps lager than that.

I just hope that a longer wait will not put anybody off the story. A big thank you to all of you loyal people who are following this story, whether you're using for it or the bookmarking feature of your browser.

Since many of you have asked me to, I will keep the entire story together like this.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

MoD2: Harry Potter, Keeper of Life

Chapter 1: Goblins are people too, you know!

Harry woke from his slumber, happy to have slept in his own bed again. With a contented sigh, he rose from his pillows. He quickly washed up and went downstairs to grab some breakfast.

John was already in the kitchen. He had prepared a small breakfast for them and was now reading a letter.

"Who's it from?"

John looked up at his son. "Ragnok, our friendship ceremony is going to be in a week. We better finish our gifts to the Goblins."

They sat at the table and ate in companionable silence, but before they got up Harry asked his dad.

"How do you feel? Now that you know, that your family is waiting on you?"

John smiled at him. "Still sad about losing them, but at least now I know that they will wait on me. Once Voldemort is gone and you are old enough, I will see them again. After all, you can always call for me then."

Smiling, Harry answerd. "Yes I know what you mean. My family waits on me as well and one day we will be together again. I have to say though, it was strange to suddenly have parents, well other ones beside from you."

John nodded.

"They were okay with most of the things we have done so far, even thought my mom wants to have some words with you sometime, because of 'all the danger you have dragged me into'." Harry smirked.

John laughed. "Well tell her next time you see her, that once I join them in the afterlife, I'll be happy to have that talk with her."

Growing serious for a moment, Harry continued. "I'm hesitant to do that, I have a feeling that staying to fight Voldemort will only get harder, if I speak to my family that often."

Very solemnly, John answered. "I know exactly what you mean and I am happy that I can't contact the dead whenever I want… I'm not sure I could bear it."

Harry nodded and they went down into the basement. They still had a lot of work to do, before their gifts would impress the Goblin Elders.

* * *

For most of the week, neither Xeno nor Luna saw much of Harry and John. Two days before the ceremony, both of them came up from the basement and they shared a wide smile.

Luna looked curiously at them and Harry answered her unspoken question.

"Done! We're finally done."

"What have you made for our goblin friends?" Luna was more than curious.

"You'll see during the ceremony."

Xeno looked up from the text he'd been reading. "We're invited?"

John nodded. "You're our guests. You both and the Grangers. The Longbottoms and Bones are invited. We tried to invite the Abbotts as well, but they turned us down immediately. I think Hannah is open minded enough, but her parents seem to be fairly narrow minded for a non-magical and a first generation wizard." He shrugged.

* * *

The next day found them on the steps of Gringotts. The king had invited them to get outfitted for proper goblin wear. It soon became clear that this meant a lot of hide and pelt. That the goblins were a race of warriors was more than clear. No matter if the fight was in person on a battle field or a battle of wits and will in the mine field that was wizard economy, made no difference to them. Their ceremonial clothing however showed that the nation was founded and based on a foundation of survival and war.

Ragnok himself came to oversee their tailors at work and that ensured that they were served swiftly and with all due professionalism.

After their measurements had been taken and the hides and pelts had been chosen, the king asked them to his office.

"I hope all your preparations are completed, if not, you better tell me now."

John smiled at him. "Not at all, we're done."

Ragnok was pleased. He had thought no less of them, but he had to give them a chance to postpone the meeting, he wanted them to succeed after all.

"Wonderful. This ceremony will mark a new age, where relations between Goblins and Humans will once again be possible."

John was pleased. One year ago, all they had hoped for was that the Goblins would tolerate their search for the horcrux. Their assistance had been much more helpful than they could have ever imagined. To become friends...was more than they ever dreamed.

"We once again want to thank you for giving us this chance to prove ourselves."

Ragnok gave them a slight bow, which John and Harry mirrored in full.

"It's a chance for all of us and I, for somewhat egotistical reasons, look forward to the changes this might bring about. Now, if you have no more questions of your own, you may leave."

John gave one more bow and, together, they left the office.

* * *

It was early morning on the next day and Hermione had come to visit them to continue their occlumency training. They just came out of a deep meditative trance and Harry told John that he had noticed some changes to his mental shields.

"It was like walking through a haze and I'm sure that had it not been my own mind, I would have been hopelessly lost."

John thought about this for a moment. "The haze? Was it like the haze in Deaths realm?"

Harry pondered this. "Yes, it was not quite the same, but similar in many ways."

John nodded. "It's probably a side effect of Death naming you his champion. By the way, did you read the book?"

Harry gave a tentative nod. "I did, somewhat at least. Every time I open the book, the contents change. There is a lot to be learned from it, no doubt, but it's not going to be easy."

"Why is it so difficult?" Hermione was curious about the book and a bit miffed that she couldn't read it.

"It's modular and the parts seem to rely on each other, but they seem to appear out of order and the contents seem to change. There are magics and knowledge that are incredibly arcane and forbidden. Summonings and Death Magic and some lighter forms of necromancy. Difficult magics and things that you need to use responsibly. I would love to try some out, but I fear for the consequences."

Luna looked uncharacteristically pensive for a moment. "Maybe you need to read it completely before you understand or maybe you could ask the book for specific topics."

This made them ponder and Harry opted to try the next time he opened the book.

* * *

It was later that day, just before dusk, and they had come to Gringotts for the ceremony. Their guests had been led away by the Goblins and Harry and John were led to a small, earthen chamber. It was a genuine Goblin cavern, something an outsider would usually never see.

They changed into the garments that Ragnok had a servant bring to the cave. Then they waited.

Harry was nervous. Today they were officially guests of the Goblin nation and soon he and John would have to present their gifts to the leaders.

These gifts would decide over their standing in that nation and their support within it. Harry's hands were sweating and he recited the ritual words in the goblin tongue, over and over in his head.

He looked over to John, who looked to be at peace with himself. Then the drums started outside, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Point of no return. He steeled himself and went outside.

Millions of torches lit the giant cavern. The entire Nation had assembled before them and the elders stood waiting at the end of a small path over the heads of everyone. Harry spotted their guests just to the side of the dias.

They slowly made their way to the wizened old Goblins and made sure that their backs were straight and that their heads were held proud and high. They both carried a leather satchel, in which their gifts were wrapped. Once they had made their way to the elders, they knelt and laid the leather containers before them.

In the spirit of the meeting, Harry and John chanted in unison, spoke, almost sang, the long and elaborate goblin plea to be accepted as friends and to strengthen the nation.

For a long moment the silence in the large cave was deafening, then the eldest of the Goblins opened his mouth to speak the ritual words.

"You have come here before us to prove to the nation, that you are true friends to us. You have brought gifts to prove your worth to the people and us as their proxies. If you are deemed worthy, then we will share our knowledge with you and you shall from now on be known as friends and allies to us, our nation and our cause."

The elder made a pause. "Do you feel that you have done your best for our people? The very best you are capable of?"

This was their first test and so they remained quiet.

The elder was pleased and spoke again. "Answer."

Once more in unison, they both answered fluently in the Goblin tongue.

"Yes."

"Very well then, let us judge your worth."

With practiced moves, they both unwrapped their gifts. Then they remained kneeling on the ground and bowed their heads. They barely heard the blades that were drawn beside them, the movements of the goblins beside them were that smooth.

On a single word these goblins would use said blades to cut their heads off, if the elders somehow felt insulted by their gifts. John unwrapped a crystal the size of a football. In front of Harry a wooden staff appeared from the leather folds.

The elder that stood in front of the others went to John first. He took the crystal and quickly judged its weight and value. It wasn't a gem stone, but a crystal unlike anything they had seen before. On its surface there were thousands of small runes, through which small droplets of a pearly white liquid ran.

The elder turned to the others and showed them the gift John had prepared. The one female elder that was in there midst gasped.

"Unicorn blood, willingly given unicorn blood!"

Harry had to forcefully repress a smile as he thought about the origin of the blood. Luna had given it to John, as she had been gifted the blood by a particularly beautiful unicorn shortly after her mother's death.

It was a gift that the Potter's could never repay, not through money nor blood. From that day forward the Potter's and the Lovegood's were definitely bonded and became family in all kinds of ways.

The elders searched the runes on the surface, tried and failed to make any kind of sense off them.

One of the male elders turned his eyes on John again and spoke.

"Very well human, you have at least confused us. Tell us of this creation of yours. Answer now."

"My dearest elders, you are the eldest and wisest of the goblin race. You hold the bloodlines of your nation. If you would be so kind to donate a drop of blood each, my crystalline container can finally fulfill its purpose."

John knew that his words were a gamble and that he was betting his head on it. Not that it would kill him permanently, but it was a nuisance still. A few shocked gasps ran through the assembled nation. The elders judged him carefully. Then they spoke among themselves.

As the eldest finally turned to him, his voice contained a warning.

"Very well human, but if this should be used against the welfare of even one goblin, we will start war on your race immediately."

One after the other the old goblins pricked their fingers and donated a drop of blood to the crystal. After the final droplet hat hit its surface, the ball turned bright green and projected a small screen toward the assembled elders. Words in the goblin tongue flitted over it.

The four elders gasped.

"How could you known of these things? Only the elders are supposed to know. Answer."

"I know nothing of these things, but I have donated a bit of knowledge to the files myself. The knowledge in the sphere comes from your blood, so it taps into the united bloodlines of the nation. New elders will donate their blood and they, and only them, will get access to the past."

"A well thought out way of storing memories throughout the times and they will aid our nation and make it stronger." The female had spoken.

"A good tool to teach the next generations, teach them the history of our people and the reasons for our ways." The youngest of the males had come next.

"A great mind is necessary to think of something like this and a great mind is definitely welcome to our nation." The other younger male had added his verdict.

The eldest came last.

"I can only agree with my fellow elder, please allow me honorable human to congratulate you first on becoming a friend to us and may that friendship last throughout the ages. Rise."

John got up from the ground and immediately bowed deep. The Elders all stepped forward and placed their hands on his head. On John's right shoulder a small intricate tribal appeared. It had a distinct centerpiece and four interlacing strands. It was made from gold, silver and bronze, and a fourth metal that Harry couldn't identify.

"You shall have the rank of a scholar to our nation. Whenever you come to us, you shall be addressed as such. We will send for you in times of need and if you need help, don't even hesitate to ask. Will you be a friend to the nation and to all of goblin kind? Will you accept this gift? This burden?"

John answered immediately, without a second of doubt. "Yes."

The elders stepped back and allowed John to stand straight.

The female motioned him to the side. "Please wait here while we test your son. You needn't worry thought, if the quality of his gift is similar to yours."

John smiled at her. He had no doubt that Harry would pass this test easily. The elders came to stand in front of the boy, who had remained kneeling on the floor the entire time. They picked up the staff Harry had carved himself, they looked at the runes that covered its entirety and they tapped the steel tips on the ground.

"Is this a weapon young human?" The youngest of the elders sounded intrigued.

Harry remained silent and the eldest smiled. "You may answer, youngling."

"Yes. It is a weapon."

The female smiled, took the staff and ran her hands along the carvings.

"It is amazing that one so young, would go to the length of carving this many runes on a simple staff. What goal were you trying to accomplish? Answer."

"I wanted this staff to become indestructible and impervious to the elements. It's supposed to last forever."

The eldest took the staff and felt the surface and the magic that flowed through it.

"This is very impressive. We will run a quick series of test on it."

Harry suddenly felt a massive amount of magic get folded multiple times in on itself and then hit the staff. The runes started to to glow as they repeatedly redirected the power around the staff. The elders all blinked in surprise, not an expression often seen on a goblin. The youngest of the elders sent a clerk to fetch his ax. In the mean time the elders tried fire, water and even struck the staff with lightning. The wood didn't even have a scratch, while the ground around it was charred, blackened and had even partially tuned to glass.

The young goblin returned several minutes later and the youngest elder hefted the heavy weapon over his head. With an incredibly speed, to fast for the eye to follow, the ax came down on the staff. It never hit the wood, but bounced off half an inch above it. Off of thin air.

The Goblin looked at his massive weapon and, as he had expected, the blade had lost a tiny chip. It wasn't enough to actually damage the ax. It was however unheard of, that a human-made object as much as scratched goblin forged steel. All of the elders looked with a bit of awe at Harry. Amazed that a human, especially one as young as him, had managed to create the object before them.

They talked a moment between themselves and quickly reached a decision.

"Young human, we want you to fight against a goblin youngling. Only sparring, till first blood is drawn. Will you agree to this?"

Harry had heard the girls gasp as first blood was mentioned, but John had told him that this was a viable option and that he better be prepared for it. He bent forward in his kneeling position, signaling his agreement.

The eldest made a hand gesture towards the clerk and he quickly left the cavern. Harry made the best of the time he had and reviewed his martial arts training in his mind. He had immediately taken it back up once they had returned for the holidays. He had tried to keep active while at Hogwarts, but it was no replacement for the training with a competent instructor.

The teacher at the school in town was overjoyed to see him back again. Harry already dreaded the return to school, as he had to leave his martial arts teacher at home again.

The clerk returned with a very young goblin in tow. The youngling was quickly brought up to speed and he went to a small round area that had been hastily prepared. Harry remained kneeling, which brought a smile to the elders faces.

The female addressed him. "You may rise now young human."

Harry got up and ignored the stiff muscles in his legs. He went to the improvised circle and empty handed faced the armed goblin youngster.

Still smiling the female elder handed the staff to Harry.

"You may use the weapon you made. Take it."

The eldest looked at them and after a second of contemplation, simply told them to fight. The next thing Harry noticed, was an ax aimed at his head. He swung his staff to intercept the hard blow and managed to redirect it. The ax hit the ground and Harry tried to stab his opponent. The goblin twisted out of the way and brought his weapon up again. A quick swipe was aimed at Harry's upper arm but he evaded the blow by ducking under it.

He brought the staff up and aimed for the goblins chin, who managed to lean back at the very last moment. The tip of Harry's weapon missed him by a hairs width. The young member of the Nation then tried to end the fight prematurely and stabbed his ax forward. Harry used his fast reflexes and quickly twisted to the side, but the goblin had foreseen this and turned the blade of his weapon to the side and turned the stab to a sideways blow.

Harry dropped to the ground and put his staff between the goblins legs. A quick twist later and the youngling joined him on the dusty ground. As Harry's attack had not drawn blood, the fight was far from over. He rolled away from his opponent and used the motion to get back on his feet. Immediately he had to block a blow that came his way. He hadn't thought that the goblin would get on his feet so quickly again. Another blow whistled an inch past his face and Harry tried another quick slash with the staff, which was blocked by the goblins ax.

To Harry's everlasting, but luckily quickly passing, surprise, a set of runes activated on the wooden shaft in his hand. A set of runes he couldn't remember carving. A ghostly blade shimmered into existence, turning the blade into a scythe of sorts. A sudden twist and a small droplet of blood ran down the goblins cheek.

There was silence. The entirety of the cavern had fallen silent as the blade appeared on the staff. Harry and the others were now very worried, that he would be accused of cheating. Then the entire goblin nation cheered and chanted words that none of the humans could clearly understand.

Harry's opponent gave him a respectful, albeit a bit stiff, bow and left the circle and then the cavern. His presence was no longer needed. The elders came forward and Harry once again knelt before them.

The eldest once again spoke. "Surprise is a very important part in any fight. If you have abilities that your opponent knows nothing about, then you have a massive advantage in any type of fight. Be it on the battlefield or in any battle of wills. You have shown today that you can hold yourself against one of our own and that you are able to use the element of surprise to your advantage."

He turned to the other elders and they quickly exchanged opinions and decided on their course of action. After a short while they turned back to Harry.

"You shall have the rank of a warrior in our nation. If we ever need to defend the nation or the nation goes to war, we shall call on you as our brother in arms. This is a great responsibility, but the nation will go to war with you as well. We know of your own personal fight and we're more than in favor of helping you. We want you to defeat the evil that is Voldemort or Tom Riddle as he was known. Will you accept this gift? This burden? Answer."

"I am honored and I accept."

"Very well then you shall from hereon be known as a warrior and you shall be addressed as such."

Once more the elders stepped forward and placed their hands on his head. A tribal appeared on his sleeve as well and was similar to John's. But his centerpiece was very different. It showed the Goblin rune for fighter and protector.

"As a warrior, you may keep the gift you made and use it to the betterment of the nation. May your strength and prowess be the gift to us."

* * *

Once the official part of the ceremony had ended, the goblin nation started to file out of the cavern. Ragnok stepped up to them and congratulated them and the elders, all but one, said their goodbyes to their new human friends. The remaining elder exchanged quick words with Ragnok, who nodded.

"Young friend." He addressed Harry. "I am not only elder of the nation, but also Head of the blade smith guild. We're the armorers of the nation and we would like to know about the runes on your staff. In exchange we would teach you the goblin way of black smithing. Will you accept?"

Harry nodded. This was once again way more than they had hoped for. The goblins had never taught anyone their techniques before.

"Very well, we will send you notice, once there is a new set of us going into training."

The elder disappeared and Ragnok once more turned to them. "How is the search for the Horcruxes coming along?"

John smiled. "Very well, once we return from our trip, we should be able to take on the next."

Ragnok's smile was full of teeth and, if you didn't know him, you would have felt threatened.

There friends awaited them, once they stepped from the dias. Hermione and Luna hugged Harry and John got hugs from Emma and Xeno. They received congratulations from them all and they went, after a change of clothes, into the muggle world.

John had reserved a table in a nice restaurant, it had been a suggestion by Ragnok. He knew that the human tongue was more delicate and couldn't fully enjoy a goblin meal, which consisted mainly of raw and charred meat

* * *

After the first week of their holidays had ended so incredibly fast, the first weekend was spent in preparation for their expedition holiday. They packed their camping equipment and stocked up on supplies. Luna was ecstatic and giddy all the way through the weekend. Monday morning saw them leave for their trip.

* * *

The took the train to a station close to the Leaky Cauldron. They went into Diagon Alley and to an international portkey point that was run by the Ministry. John bought the tickets and each of them had to show their wands to the clerk. Emma and Dan were registered with Hermione's wand. Harry's proved to be difficult as it repeatedly shocked the poor ministry worker.

He laughed it off, telling them that some wands were a bit temperamental at times, even thought he looked a bit disheveled afterwards.

They went to a small waiting area and were able to buy refreshments and snacks from an old man with a trolley. After a short wait they got their portkey from the clerk and on the touch of the mans wand, they were off.

Upon landing, they looked around and were attacked by the strange sights and smells of China's premiere magical district.

* * *

Harry, Luna and Hermione were overwhelmed by the differences in their cultures. The foods and wares the merchants offered brought smiles to their faces and elicited amazed sounds from them.

John and Xeno were a bit harder to surprise. John had the knowledge of ten thousand lifetimes to fall back on and Xeno had visited China before.

Dan and Emma were decidedly green around their noses, as they could barely keep the potions ingredients and the food apart.

Opposed to London's Diagon Alley, Beijing had an entire 17th district unknown to the muggle world. It was where alot of the magic users lived, but some still preferred to live in the "mundane" world among the other humans.

Some had become monks in the many monasteries, or temples, of the city. Most had however become normal citizens with normal occupations, like bankers or office clerks. They blended into their everyday life without the need to utilize their magic, some had even stopped using it in the traditional (English) wizard sense and only used it in special applications.

Some, like the monks, channeled their energy into their body's. This allowed them to perform superhuman feats of acrobatics and skill. The muggles could do something similar to this, but to a much lesser extent than their magical conterparts.

Others found a way to channel their magic into their minds, increasing the speed at which they could handle information and comprehend things. They could easily out think the smartest muggles and usually used that abilities in sciences and mathematics. A lot of these people also worked for the magical portion of the government. Instead of becoming aurors or clerks they became the equivalent to England's unspeakables. Developing new magics and experimenting with alternate energies.

Harry and the crew reached the exit of the Chinese department of magical transportation, when a man from the crowd came to them and bowed.

"Potter Shuo Shi, Lovegood Shuo Shi, what a pleasure to see you again."

John smiled at the man. "My dear Chao, there is no need to be this formal. We are very happy that you invited us to visit your beautiful country."

The man bowed again and led them to a close by exit to the muggle world and then to a jeep, that was parked in a side alley. The man named Chao got in the vehicle and they followed suit, he pulled out of the street and followed it out of the city limits.

* * *

They drove for some time, getting progressively higher on a mountain street, until Chao turned right on some completely random path near a mountain top. He followed the path for another 10 minutes before stopping and telling them that they had arrived.

They got out and saw a small hut some hundred meters upfront. John thanked Chao and the man got back into the jeep and drove off. Xeno led them to a small path to their right and they followed a small trail into the woods. After a mile and a half, Xeno called stop and they started to set up camp.

Harry had just gotten done with his tent, when John took him to the side a bit away from the others.

"You have probably noticed the hut earlier?"

Harry frowned. "Yes, we all but parked in front of it, why?"

John chuckled. "Because the others didn't. Chao also had no clue. He merely drove us where he knew our camping grounds would be. Chao is a researcher and he knows where some of the rarer creatures in China could be found. He helped us with some research of our own, concerning the Horcruxes. Ragnok set the first meeting up."

He sighed. "When he asked us to spend some time here, I asked for a specific creature we could search for, knowing who lived here."

Harry raised his eyebrow. "Who lives in that hut?"

"A very old and knowledgeable Chinese wizard."

"There is more to this right?" Harry had his suspicions about this elaborate setup.

"Yes, he is also a very apt martial artist. I want you to learn from him, but I don't know if he will take you on as his student. He's been gone from civilization for so long, hardly anyone knows of him anymore."

Harry smiled, being a child for once. "Then he sure would like some company. Either way, we won't know unless we ask."

John nodded. "We'll go tomorrow, in the morning. Early."

Harry nodded and they rejoined the others in setting up camp.

* * *

Later that night they sat around the fire they had made and Harry once more held Death's book in his hand.

"Show me everything about necromancy." He tried.

Nothing happened. "It didn't work."

John pondered for a second. "Perhaps...it judges how much information you still need at the moment and what you still need to learn so you can comprehend the information it wants to give you. Possibly it's limited by the page count it has."

Hermione's brain was immediately on fire. "You mean unlike the book that I got from Harry and Luna. That one has space expansion and page creation spells on it."

Xeno nodded. "That makes sense. So Harry's book is only a medium that pulls the information from somewhere else. Could this work like your gift?" He looked at John.

"I can pull information from the collective memory of humankind and, if I want to, also change and or add things. On a certain scale of course. It reaches back for about two thousand years and includes things that are or were at some point common knowledge. I seldom get specifics or hidden knowledge."

John threw a couple of pieces of wood into the fire.

"Harry's book however, seems to draw its wisdom from the collective memories of the dead. You can hide nothing from death, so in essence it should be pretty complete. What he holds in his hand… is basically all the knowledge in the world. I don't know how this book is supposed to be used yet, but pretty sure you are not supposed to just read it."

Harry laughed for a moment. "That would take a while!" He grew serious again. "Maybe I should ask Death?"

John smiled. "Maybe you should, but he'll probably laugh in your face and tell you to solve this riddle yourself."

Luna stared in the flames. "Maybe you need to eat it." She looked up and saw them all look at her incredulously. "What? It worked with the stones." She shrugged.

Sighing Harry raised the book to his mouth and bit on the leather cover. Apart from the foul taste, that spread in his mouth, nothing happened.

Luna shrugged again while Harry gagged. "It could have worked..." She gave him the kind of smile that made him smile as well. When she smiled that way, he couldn't be mad at her. Much like when Hermione scrunched up her nose when she berated him. He couldn't be mad at them if he tried.

Yawning, Harry decided to turn in for the night and the others quickly agreed. Harry and John would share a tent, as would Xeno and Luna and Dan, Emma and Hermione took the third.

While they had closed their practice for the duration that they would be on holiday, a colleague would see to their patients as they had done in the past. It had been forever since they had been out in nature camping and it was the first time for Hermione. They had been surprised, when their usually bookish girl had been all in favor for a camping trip, but since it was declared an expedition, it wasn't as confusing anymore.

Their daughter always was in favor of learning new things. And now they sat in a tent in remote China, in search of a nine tailed fox, instead of a 4 -star hotel on the French Riviera or on the coast of Italy. But the love for their daughter knew no bounds and so they had readily agreed. It was hard to believe, that the young, shy, friendless girl of a year ago, was now the confident young, not-quite-woman, before them.

Smiling, but still afraid of mosquitoes, the Granger parents fell asleep with their daughter between them.

* * *

Just one tent away, Xeno had similar thoughts. Just a year ago, he had been so ridden with sorrow, going to the bathroom in the morning was hard. Luna, his precious Luna, had hurt so horribly under her Mothers death and then he added to her misery, by being the most incompetent father ever!

Vowing to never again have his daughter hurt like that, Xeno fell into a determined sleep.

* * *

A/N2: Okay, this seems like a good place to end the chapter. I have recently seen the Magical Beasts film (yeah where have I been, right) and it certainly gave me a few ideas for future chapters. So stay tuned and I hope to see you soon.


	14. KoL: There are Wizards in China?

A/N: Hey guys, I've kept you waiting once more. I'm glad that I have such patient readers.

A big thank you to everyone that politely asks for more. If you don't like this story, I'm sure there are stories out there that are more to your liking.

A big thanks to my beta, who takes time out of his day to shape my ramblings into the form you see here :-)

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

MoD2: Harry Potter, Keeper of Life

Chapter 2: There are wizards in China!?

"Harry!"

The boy in question started awake. John knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder gently. Harry needed a second to recognize his surroundings, to remember that they were in a magical tent in China.

"It's time, we have to get going."

Harry nodded and quickly got up to get dressed.

* * *

They made their way out of camp without rousing their friends. It was still very early, the sun was just on the rise.

"What if he is still asleep?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Oh, he will be awake alright." John smiled and grew serious again. "I just don't know if he wants to meet us."

They hiked up the path to the mountain road and followed it to the hut they had spied upon arrival.

It was a small house, built in a traditional way and Harry could almost feel the age of the place. It felt ancient and wise, like the walls had seen and heard a lot.

"Follow my lead." John then went to kneel in front of the door.

Harry, knowing better than to argue with his dad, followed suit. John raised his hand and knocked on the door, exactly seven times. Lowering their heads, they waited and Harry for a long moment feared, that nothing would happen.

An almost silent shuffle from behind the door however, was the only warning before it was opened. Behind it stood an tiny old man. His body looked thin and frail, but his movements spoke of strength and power beyond what his body should have been capable of.

The elderly man reminded Harry of Professor Flitwick, but he lacked the joyous nature of Harry's teacher. His face was grim and sour looking. Almost like Flitwick and Snape had a child that had prematurely aged beyond its parents.

"What do you want!" He spat at them in Chinese.

John quickly answered in the same language, which took the old man by surprise.

"Knowledge, honored Master."

Standing in his door way, still a bit taken aback by the strange man before him, the ancient one quickly spat his words at them.

"Knowledge!? That's what everybody wants. All want knowledge, but are they willing to search for it? To work for it?" He left them no room to answer. "NO! They want a sliver of truth, a quick bit of wisdom. So they can feel enlightened and then return to their meaningless lives. Humankind can't be taught, I tried. I tried for a hundred years and not one of them has listened. They took the words I gave them and twisted them. Words that were meant to guide them to the truth, led to war, to loss and sadness. No one took the words as what they were, the closest representation of the truth one can give in any language."

He sighed deeply, each and every year that he had lived appeared in the wrinkles on his face.

"Meaning, truth and wisdom can only be acquired. You can't just walk up to someone and ask them for it. It has to be your truth, your meaning and your wisdom. I can't help, I never could help anyone."

His face grew sad, before the anger flared up on it again.

"Go then! Go out into the world and look for the truth. Then you'll find wisdom and meaning. These things are not universal, each and everyone creates their own."

The man stepped back into his house and wanted to close the door in their faces, but John was quicker with his words.

"Master, we don't look for meaning, truth or wisdom."

The old one paused.

"We have found these things. Of some we have more of, others we have less, but our path is clear. What we seek is knowledge, strength and the will to do what needs to be done. Will you at least hear us out, if you then want us to leave, we will leave without another word."

He just looked at them for a long moment and then made a gesture with his head, signaling them to follow. They all went inside the man's house and the inside looked much more homely that the outside. Harry suspected that there were some enlargement charms on the rooms, but since he couldn't see the entire home from the front he couldn't be sure.

The old man (Granpa Snapewick as Harry now called him in his mind) led them to a small kitchen area. He had them sit down and poured all of them some tea.

"You can call me Peng Wang, or simply Wang. Everybody did in the old days."

John sipped his tea. "Thank you Wang, I'm John and this is Harry, my son."

Nodding, Wang gestured for them to continue.

"We're from Britain, close to London to be more precise. Our fate is no mystery to us, because we had a meeting with Death, not too long ago."

"So you came close to dying?" Wang asked.

"Not even remotely." After a short pause, John continued. "We came face to face with a personified Death. Our goals are clear, the way we have to take… is clear. But we lack abilities and strength to follow the path laid before us. We had hoped, that you would teach us Master Wang."

The old man waved his hand dismissively. "I'm no longer known under any title and even my name only few people know anymore." He made a pause and appeared deep in thought. "But your story intrigues me. How long will you stay here?"

"About three weeks, then we will return to Britain."

"Very well. Meet me here tomorrow at dawn, then we will know more."

Both Harry and John thanked the wizened old master and he led them back out the door. Both promised him that they would return in the morning.

* * *

"Boy am I glad you had me study Chinese." Harry laughed as they made there way back to camp.

John gave a laugh, but grew serious again instantly. "But don't you think he agreed to all of that just a bit too readily?"

Shrugging, Harry replied. "I guess, but I felt no negativity from him. It was rather like he suddenly got reassured that we told him the truth, maybe he can tell like us, or Luna for that matter."

John ruffled his hair and pushed his concern aside for now, just feeling happy that the meeting had gone so well.

They entered the campsite and saw Luna walking out of their tent. She had Bob the Bunny under her arm and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Oh..you're back."

Harry and John shared a long look. "How do you know we had left?"

"Oh Harry, I noticed you were not close by as I woke up. I could feel it. Then you walk into camp, just as I leave the tent. So you were gone and have now returned. Had any adventures this morning?"

Harry was a bit thrown by her answer, he hadn't know that Luna could feel others presence like that. John, by the look on his face, hadn't known either.

"Luna, I knew that you could feel others emotions, but since when can you feel there presence?"

"But John, I can't. Not of everyone, that is. Just Dad, You, Hermione and Harry."

"And what about Hermione's parents?" A wide-eyed Harry asked.

Shaking her head, Luna lowered her gaze. "No, I can't feel their presence. It only started a few months ago, maybe it will get stronger over time."

John scratched his chin. "Yeah, maybe..."

Before anything else could be said, the Granger's tent flap burst open and a fully clothed Hermione skipped out. She caught Harry and Luna in a three way hug.

Harry quickly told his friends about the old master they had visited this morning, as the parents joined them.

* * *

After they had all finished their breakfast, they quickly packed their backpacks and made their way into the woods.

"What is this thing we're looking for called again?" Dan asked for the sixth time that morning.

John sighed. "A Xiao, a four winged bird. They are pretty shy, so don't expect to see one today."

After thinking for a second, Emma threw a wrench into their plans, no one had thought about.

"Can we even see these birds?"

This made all the magic users stop dead in their tracks. Xeno was the first to recover.

"No, you can't. I can't believe we didn't think of that beforehand."

John shrugged it off. "I'll think of something. For today you might just want to treat this as a simple hike in the woods."

Laughing, Emma waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, I was just wondering whether we could see them at all. We're going to have fun on this trip either way."

She tried to play it off, but one could hear the sad undertone in her voice. John's mind immediately went into overdrive, thinking about possible ways to rectify this.

"What about these bracelets?" Dan asked, lifting his arm.

Shaking his head, John answered him. "No, it just negates the charms on objects you could normally see. Magical animals is a whole other beast entirely, excuse the pun."

Xeno was chuckling, while Luna giggled.

"I'm sure we can think of something."

* * *

They walked all morning and settled in a small clearing for lunch. They had seen a few feathers, that Xeno and Luna identified as Xiao feathers, and a few egg shells. This usually meant that they were on the right track and would probably get to see the shy birds, once they had grown used to their presence some more.

While they were eating, Luna plucked a tuft of silvery white hair from a low branch.

"Unicorn?" She said, but Xeno took it from her fingers.

"No, unicorn hair glows. This only reflects the light. There are few creatures whose hair you could mistake for unicorn and going from the fact we're in China… demiguise most probably."

He spun a few of the strands into a rudimentary string between his fingers, took his wand and tapped it. To their surprise it turned invisible for a few seconds.

"Definitely Demiguise." He looked at the others. "Their hair is used to manufacture invisibility cloaks, not like Harry's." he answered their unasked question. "The cloaks made from this are expensive and will hold their power for only about 10 – 15 years, then they lose their magic and the ability to turn invisible."

While the children and John nodded, Emma and Dan had no idea, what a demiguise was.

"So these… things… can turn invisible? And they might be all around us right now? Aren't you worried?" Dan's voice had a decidedly nervous undertone.

Smiling John placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Dan. A demiguise is a herbivore. It reacts to stress and fear by turning invisible. They won't hurt us, unless we hurt them. They look like small primates, with long white/silver hair and large black eyes."

They finished their lunch and decided to return to their campsite. On the way back, Luna used an enchanted pouch to collect all possible things that might have some magical properties. Eggshells and feathers, some more demiguise hair and some sort of scales and claws.

Before long they had returned to their tents; the sun was already starting to set. Dan stacked wood in the fireplace they had encircled in stones. Soon the fire was blazing and they used the flames to have a small BBQ and to bake bread on a stick.

Once they had eaten and started to relax a bit, their eyes soon wanted to drift close, so they all retired to their beds.

* * *

The next morning Harry and John were woken by the alarm they had set the day before. It was a bleary eyed father and son that stumbled up the path that led to Wang's hut. The sun wasn't to be seen yet and the sky to the east slowly turned a lighter blue, as they arrived at the old mans door.

John had barely lifted his hand to knock on the door, when it was already opened. Wang came outside and actually smiled at them, but Harry thought that the smile was somewhat off.

"Good morning."

"Good morning Master Wang." Both of his visitors answered the ancient man.

"Very well, what do you need to reach your goals? Or rather what are your goals?"

John waved for Harry to answer. "Master, we have to destroy the being that calls itself Lord Voldemort. For this we have to find soul pieces he locked away and destroy them. Only then may the spirit of Voldemort or Tom Riddle, as we know him, be laid to rest. This is the most important goal that Death gave us."

Wang listened to the explanations and if something he heard shocked or horrified him, he didn't show it. He just motioned for Harry to continue.

"These soul pieces are well hidden, but we already gathered two of them and destroyed one more. We had massive help from our friends from the Goblin nation, who basically found both of them for us."

This time Wang's eyes widened slightly, but he still motioned Harry to go on.

"Death made me his champion and gave me special abilities. I… I struggle to get the hang of them however. It's all so confusing and hard, I have so much to learn and to master. While Voldemort has been without a body for around ten years, he still has all these years of experience on me. Sometimes I don't know if I can do what needs to be done."

After clearing his throat, Wang interjected. "I have a feeling that you don't worry about yourself so much, as you are worried about others."

"I don't need to be afraid. But my friends would suffer if Voldemort came back and that is unacceptable."

Wang nodded and his eyes locked onto John. "What about you?"

"I needn't worry about myself, but I have found friends and even family. They all are in dire need of protection, especially if that madman Voldemort manages to return. After this task is completed and my son here is firmly on his way in life, I will gladly join my family in the afterlife."

Another nod from Wang. "These are all valid reasons and goals, but only short term. From you John I expect nothing else, your final goal is joining your family in death. You are blessed, as you know they wait on you there."

He cleared his throat. "But for you Harry, I think, this can only be a step on your way to the future. You're the chosen Champion of Death. I would imagine that a certain amount of responsibility comes with a title like that. Do you think that Death only intends for you to do this one task?"

Wide-eyed, Harry shook his head. "I don't know, that was all he asked of me."

"Maybe you should ask, after all you are able to visit and ask for advice. For now, what do you know about martial arts? About fighting and self-discipline? About the philosophy of the fighting arts and the mental aspect of kung fu?"

"I...Well I..." Harry didn't know how to answer this question. He had only had some fighting training in his martial arts class in Britain. He decided to answer as truthfully as he could.

"I had some fighting training back home, I use to meditate and I think that I have a modest amount of self-discipline, but to say that I actually know anything about these things… I don't think I could say that."

The face of the old master brightened.

"You are very wise despite your age. Knowing that you still need to learn, that maybe you know nothing at all, this is the hardest step in training. The next would be to accept the teachings of a master and not question him, but accept that he knows best. Would you be willing to do that?"

Harry swallowed heavily. "I would try my best to do so."

Clapping his hands, Wang smiled. "Then I would try my best to teach you. Meet me here every day at the break of dawn. For today, you will try to contact Death."

Swallowing again, the boy nodded. "Master, one question I do have, if I may?"

"Certainly."

"You seem to accept this all far to readily, how do you know that you can trust us?"

Laughing the old man took a horn from his pocket. It was glowing and seemed to be warm and vibrating.

"This is a Luduan horn. The particular creature it belonged to was a companion of mine for many years. They are great for long distance travel and they can detect the truth. While my friend died of old age, quite a few years ago, his horn still helps me in deciding whom I can trust."

Upon seeing their confused faces, Wang decided to explain.

"A Luduan, has the legs of a deer and the body and head of a horse. It looks a bit like the unicorns you should be familiar with, but they are of a shimmering green."

John was confused as he had no knowledge about these creatures. "Are they extinct?"

Nodding the old man continued. "They are now, at least I think so. They were incredibly rare beforehand and mine was probably the last of its kind." Shaking himself from the past. "Anyway, that was the reason I so readily believed you. I knew that you were saying the truth."

Wang pulled himself up from the ground they had all sat down on.

"Now only one last thing before you go for today. Harry I want to spar against you, so I have a fair idea of where you stand."

Wang assumed a fighting stance and Harry threw a look in Johns direction. Seeing his dad shrug and motion for him to go on. Shrugging himself Harry assumed the stance his teacher had shown him.

The exchange was quick and over before it really started, with Harry only able to throw a handful of punches and kicks at Wang. The old wizard was much quicker and a lot stronger than either Harry or John would have given him credit for. With none of his punches hitting anything but air, Harry was quickly overpowered, even though Wang only eluded his strikes and used Harry's own force against him. He made him trip and stumble, or used a block to the body when the boy came in for a punch.

Deciding to end it, Wang swept Harry's feet with a kick that was too fast to see, and placed a foot on the boy's throat. He then quickly stepped back and gave a small bow to his opponent. Harry scrambled to his feet and copied his master.

Wang was surprised to see the desire to learn burn in Harry's eyes, instead of the humiliation he had expected. He saw them off and knew that the boy was special and with the right tutors, he would be a great warrior one day.

* * *

As Harry and John returned to their camp side that morning, the others were already up. Xeno was tinkering on a tree trunk by the fireplace. Luna was sitting with the Grangers having breakfast.

Harry quickly joined the girls in eating and John, after greeting Dan and Emma, joined Xeno, who handed him a parchment.

Over an hour later, Xeno and John joined the Grangers, who were both reading books. The children in the meantime had started a game of cards, which Luna seemed to be in the habit of winning.

So far Harry and Hermione had introduced Luna to every muggle card game they knew, and even a few they had to teach themselves first, only to be beaten by her all the time. They knew that she wasn't cheating, as they had charmed the decks against that, but still she continued to win. It also didn't matter whether it was a game based on strategy or just luck. If they just drew cards to see who had the higher value, Luna won.

Harry had given up on trying to figure it out and had just resolved that they would make a trip to Las Vegas on Luna's 18th Birthday.

Xeno handed a pair of glasses to Dan and Emma each. They wondered how anyone could see anything through them, as the entire glass was etched with runes, basically rendering them opaque.

"These runes should, in conjunction with the glass, work as a kind of canvas or screen." John explained. "You will then no longer see through the glass, but what is projected on the glass. This should include all things magical. Even spells that are cast, so we can try it out in a second. Once we get home, I should be able to make them much smaller. Maybe even make you contacts that work in the same way."

Dan quickly took the glasses and put them on, but was quite disappointed. "I can't see anything."

No sooner had he said that, that he heard John and Xeno chuckling.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"We still need to place the magically charged crystals on them." John was smiling.

"Think of it like a battery, since you don't have a magical core." Xeno was smiling at Dan without any malice.

Holding out his hand, John summoned two small glowing gems from his tent. Taking one of the glasses, he placed the stone over the rune that would normally draw the power out of the magical core of the user.

He smiled as the glass turned transparent and showed the world before it. Quickly fixing the other pair he handed them to the Grangers and asked them to try.

"Tell me if you can see this." Xeno then send a low powered stunner at a rock to their left and the Grangers nearly toppled of their bench.

"I saw a red light hit that rock over there. This means that it works, right?" Emma asked cautiously.

"Yes, though until I have another solution, this little gem acts as the "battery" and will have to be recharged."

* * *

That afternoon they were once again looking for Xiaos in the area, but only found some more eggshells and feathers.

That night Harry tried to shift into Deaths plane and tried to call out for Death, but neither worked. He felt that the knowledge of how to contact Death and to visit his plane was deep inside of him, but at the same time something stopped him from actually doing it. A bit frustrated he went to bed.

* * *

The next morning Harry told his master of his failure of contacting Death and of the blockade inside him. Wang then decided he would best have his student start on meditation and the focusing of his mind and energies. He had Harry slip into a trance, but broke him from it again, telling him that he still was in a conscious state and that he would need to enter a much deeper trance for what they were trying to accomplish.

* * *

Much of the week went about the same way. Wang guided Harry in ever deeper meditations in the morning and the group searching for Xiaos in the afternoon. Harry kept trying to contact Death in the evenings, but continued with his lack of success. On Sunday of their first week, Harry felt very much like he was treading on the same spot, like he was making no progress at all, despite what Wang told him.

This was a very new concept for Harry, that regardless of his intellect and abilities, he was unable to continue. It made him aggravated and restless, more often than not he was studying Deaths book instead of playing with the girls or talking with the others. He lost a good deal of his appetite and also a good bit of sleep.

John noticed this with concern and decided that it was time to have a talk with his son.

* * *

Sunday night, after they had just eaten dinner, John took Harry aside and they settled into their tent for a talk.

"So tell me Harry, what's wrong."

"Nothing. Everything is… fine."

John's eyes flitted across Harry's pale face and he noticed the abbreviated answer.

"I can hardly believe that you wouldn't notice this yourself, but the lack of sleep and food, doesn't become you."

Harry gave John a long look and then tears welled up inside his eyes.

"Why does this thing resist me?" he chucked Deaths book on the table. "Why won't he talk to me? Why can't I shift to his plane, despite feeling that I know how? WHY!?"

He didn't quite shout the last word, but John understood that he would have liked nothing more than to scream out his frustrations.

John placed his arm around his son and allowed him to cry for a while.

"You're doing well Harry. You're a talented Wizard, especially for someone so young. Wang says so himself and he said you are making progress by leaps and bounds; that he has never seen someone like you in his entire life. You're doing great and not everything can be picked up like you usually do."

He gave the boy an encouraging pat on the back and a hug.

"You're only eleven, going on twelve. Relax a bit, be a kid for once and enjoy the holiday with your friends. I kind of regret now that I pushed for a holiday close to Wang. Had I known how grimly you would take to it, I would have waited for another year or two. Even if you can't reach Death now or make sense of the book, the world is not going to end because of it."

John then beamed a smile at Harry.

"Also, try to make your attempts to contact Death less forceful, sometimes you have to go easy on certain things, then they work best."

Harry took a deep shuddering breath and released it.

"Thanks, dad, you're right, maybe I'm trying to hard, but I've come to expect better of myself."

"I know, but that's no reason to work yourself to exhaustion. It's okay to strive for self improvement, just don't forget to have fun along the way. Now, go have a talk with the girls and then try for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow the world will be a much nicer place again."

* * *

Harry heeded his fathers advice and after a long relaxed chat with his best friends he went to bed and fell asleep immediately.

That night, he suddenly found himself in Deaths realm. The heavy fog surrounding him and he started to wander through it until he came face to face with the hooded figure he had tried to contact all week.

"You finally managed to make your way here." Death's voice held a playful mocking tone.

Harry blinked hard. "Seems like it, even thought I didn't even try tonight."

Death nodded. "Sometimes, that makes all the difference. Trying, that's all you humans ever do. Doing and trying are two very different things altogether. You want to do something, do it."

"How shall I do that, if I don't know how?"

"Trust that the knowledge is deep inside you and do it till you manage to complete the task. Trying will set you up for failure and failure will bring frustration about. Let go. I'm all about that, so simply let go."

Harry tried to grasp the meaning of Death's words, but found it hard to wrap his head around.

"What about your book? Is it the same? Will I have to stop trying to understand its meaning? It changes every time I open it."

"Ahh! Yes the book, it's very much like that. You harbor a lot of doubts about the contents, don't you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, this knowledge is dangerous and I'm unsure I could control the effects."

Chuckling deep, Death placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "This book will only show you things that you are capable of. If you doubt yourself, the book gets very unsure what to show you. Rest assured, everything you can read is in your ability to accomplish. You don't have to immediately cast any spell you read or perform any ritual, albeit I encourage you to do if you like. Simply accept the knowledge it tries to impart and continue reading, it will all become clear to you then. One final note on the book however, it will take many years till you reach its end. If you ever do, that is."

Harry nodded. Self doubts getting in the way, he could understand that.

"I guess that's a lesson I need to learn."

The ghostly figure before him nodded. "Was there anything else you wanted? See your family again, perhaps?"

"Yes there is, but not my family, I would like to see the Flamels."

Death nodded again and led him to a close by door. "They are through here, they have been waiting for your visit ever since they got here."

"Thank you. But before I go, I have one last question."

"Go ahead."

"Is defeating Voldemort the sole purpose you have in mind for me?"

Death gave him a deep chuckle. "That master of yours is very wise indeed. For now, yes, that's your only purpose. I, after all, don't know how long you plan on living. I might however call upon you later in your life. Much like I asked of you, I will make requests. I will never order you to do anything and it is your right to decline."

Harry nodded and felt reassured. He took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, into what looked like a well furnished living room. A woman sat in an armchair, working on a piece of embroidery. She looked up at the sudden visitor.

"Oh my, finally you visit us my dear boy. Nicholas, come quick!" She got up and gathered Harry in a hug. "I know we have never met in person, I'm Perenelle, Nicholas' wife.

"Nice to meet you." Harry managed to squeak out.

"Stop smothering the poor boy." Nicholas voice echoed playfully from the entrance to the room.

Perenelle released him and Nicholas shook his hand firmly. "So good to see you again Harry."

A bit put off, the boy tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing and hearing.

"You two seem awfully happy to see me, despite me causing your death."

Nicholas grinned at him. "Well actually, we actually had planned to die, for quite some time." The old man coughed embarrassed.

"We always found a reason to postpone the departure. First there was research to complete, then there was the..." Nicholas looked a bit peeved "'Greater Good' of Albus Bloody Dumbledore to work for. And finally we had no heir to leave our 'responsibilities' to. You changed all that, gave us an excuse to finally pass on. As you must have surely gathered by now, we named you our heir."

The Flamels shared a chuckle at Harry's gobsmacked expression.

"Judging by your face, you haven't been contacted by the Goblins yet."

The boy just shook his head.

"Don't worry son, you will soon. Now we should talk about me teaching you Alchemy..."

"Rather, about me teaching you Herbology." Perenelle interjected.

Nicholas had the grace to blush. "I think Harry is more than capable enough to learn both simultaneously. So after the Goblins have gotten over with the inheritance stuff, you'll have to pick up a few books from our home."

"And make sure, that this thrice damned Dumbledore doesn't set foot in our house." Perenelle huffed.

"Yes, yes… now listen."

The Flamels gave Harry a quite extensive list of books to get and read up on until they met next.

* * *

They sat for a long time talking after that and had a generally good time, talking about potions and the difference to the concoctions alchemy produced. Perenelle threw in some Herbological background information into the mix.

Then Death appeared in the middle of the room. "Harry you have to return to the world of the living."

Nodding Harry raised and bade the Flamels farewell.

He stepped up to Death and suddenly woke with a start. John was shaking his shoulder.

Upon seeing his sons eyes snap open, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I take it you finally contacted Death?" Upon seeing Harry nod, he continued. "Very well, we can talk with Wang about this and its about time we get moving."

John place his hands on Harry's shoulders and had his PJ's change place with his clothes. Harry felt his mouth freshen, his hair flatten and his face become clean. Normally, his father would not allow the use of magic for something like this and preferred everyday tasks to be done the muggle way. That he would do this indicated how late they were.

* * *

After a quick hike to Wang's hut, that left them quite short of breath, they saw the old man already standing in front of his door impatiently.

Harry bowed. "I'm sorry Mas..." But Wang waved his apology away.

"So what did Death tell you?"

After an involuntary look at John, Harry summed up his meeting with Death and the Flamels.

"...Oh and he told me that you were very wise, since you had me ask about his motives."

Wang actually chuckled. "Did he say that? Wouldn't a wise old man ask about the time he has remaining?"

The old Wizard shook his head. "Of course not!" Harry realized that his master talked more to himself than them. He looked toward the valley, where the sun just rose over the furthest peak.

"Sometimes…." Wang shook his head and turned back towards Harry. "Tomorrow we will start your training for real. We will meet here when the sun rises and when it sets. This will put a lot of strain on you, but I will teach you how to deal with it. Tomorrow your journey starts, are you ready?"

Harry bowed. "Yes master."

Wang turned to him and smiled. "I doubt it. Go now, join your friends." He turned away, John and Harry started on the way back to their campsite.

"Wait." Son and father turned around again. "Bring your friends tomorrow morning, I'd like to meet them… ALL of them."

The old man looked intensely at John as he stressed the word 'all', who just nodded and started to walk towards their camp again.

They had just entered the woods, when Harry had to ask.

"What did he mean by that?"

"He meant we should also have the Grangers join us. He just wanted to make sure I got that the non-magical part of our group is also included."

They had a pleasant, but silent walk after that.

* * *

They had just returned to the camp, when they already were served breakfast by Emma.

After they had eaten, John quickly informed the group of the Masters request, and while they were not pleased to rise so early, they were anxious to meet the ancient wizard. The Grangers at first thought they would stay behind, a bit disappointed about not being part of it and a bit elated that they could sleep in. John, however, quickly destroyed their illusions and told them that Wang had specifically requested their presence at the meeting.

Overjoyed that they could join in on the activity, they didn't even complain about rising early.

* * *

That day, shortly after lunch, Luna gave a very quiet, very stifled shout. She pointed to one of the branches above them.

A brilliantly blue bird sat on one of them and unfurled two sets of wings.

"A Xiao..." Xeno breathed. His magical camera made a soft clicking sound as he pushed the shutter button. Harry noticed the longing look on Luna's face as she eyed Xeno's camera and noted this for later.

The Xiao, seemingly intrigued by the shutter sound, flew to a lower branch close to them and imitated the clicking. Xeno didn't need to be asked twice and took a few more pictures of the magical bird.

They all smiled as the avian creature tried to spark a conversation with the mechanical device. After a few more failed attempts, the bird gave up and launched itself in the air.

Walking back to the camp, deep in excited chatter, they were laughing and joking all the way.

* * *

That night Harry surprisingly received a mirror call from Neville, who wanted them to celebrate their Birthday's together. He wanted to start their party on the 31st July and wanted it to end a good way into the 1st August. The Longbottom family would take care of the formalities and preparations.

Harry quickly had John join the chat and Alice also joined Neville on his mirror. John wanted to at least partially cover the cost, but Alice was having nothing of it. She told him that he could plan next year's party.

It took some convincing, but finally John agreed, telling her that they would return a day before Harry's birthday. Their conversation soon ended and their group was excited about the party and, some, excited about the shopping they would need to do. The males in the group threw a look at each other and groaned in conjunction.

* * *

After going to bed, Harry's spirit joined the Flamels in the afterlife. Nicholas had set up everything for their lesson and showed him the concoction they would cover, before they would get to the ritual part of the process.

Perenelle in the meantime, told him about the effects of the plant based ingredients, while Nicholas covered the animal based ones. Harry's remarkable memory came into play again and he absorbed the knowledge about as fast as the Flamels threw it at him.

* * *

A/N2: Once again a good point to end this chapter, else I would go on and on and on…

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	15. KoL: Have a drink, it's my Birthday!

A/N: As some of you have noted, Neville's Birthday is on the 30th canon-wise. I placed it on the 1st of August and decided to roll with it.

Once again I thank all of you and my wonderful beta who did a great job on this chapter once more.

To everyone who's review went unanswered, I'm truly sorry. If it happened it was an oversight and not done on purpose.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

MoD2: Harry Potter, Keeper of Life

Chapter 3: Have a drink, it's my Birthday!

Harry rose from his sleep after his time in Death's realm and his mind was still filing away all the information he had just learned.

As he and John stepped from their tent, they came face to face with a tired bunch. All of their friends yawning and dead on their feet.

Together the group of friends made their way to Wang's hut. The old wizard sat on his porch and was busy preparing tea. He looked up as they came closer and for the first time spoke in English.

"Come and have a seat, tea will be ready in just one minute. Not you Harry, come with me."

Wang led Harry a bit off to the side, hidden from the view of the others, where two buckets sat next to a barrel. The Master picked a staff out of the grass and handed it to his student.

"A bit down this path there is a set of stairs, at the bottom there is a well. Fill this barrel to the brim with water, then join us." He started to walk away. "Oh and don't use magic, I will know if you do."

Sighing, Harry picked up the buckets and started in the direction his master told him. He arrived at the stairs and groaned. After sighing again, he started walking down towards the well he could barely see from up here.

* * *

Wang returned to the group and quickly poured tea for all of them. They had all settled into large cushions the old man had placed on his porch.

He looked at the assembled friends, took a sip of tea and uttered his request.

"Tell me about Harry. I want to know as much as I can. This little talk we're having here will determine a lot of my future decisions, so you better go in depth."

The startled members of their group looked at each other in confusion, before John started to tell Wang about his son.

* * *

Harry was cursing loudly, for once happy that neither Luna nor Hermione were here, as each would have reprimanded him about it, though it might have gotten a giggle out of Luna.

Twice he had been to the well already and filled both buckets to the brim. Hanging them from the staff proved to be the first hurdle, albeit one he easily found the solution for. Him losing the balance on the crooked raw stairs in the rock, that was an entirely different matter.

Once one of the buckets slipped from his staff, the second followed soon after. Or he would spill all the contents on himself while trying to keep his balance.

On the third try he only filled the buckets to about half and finally made it to the barrel. Harry sighed hard, the barrel was just too empty still. Resigning himself to the thought that he would have to at least walk up these stairs another twenty times but really he was glad that he'd finally managed to get any water up here at all.

* * *

John had relayed his information on Harry and now the others were giving their impressions of him. While listening to them all, he couldn't help but feel pride in his son, who seemingly had grown into a responsible young man already. Harry was regarded as a genius by his friends, as well as a well rounded young man who helped others while ignoring his fame to a large degree.

The Grangers and Lovegoods also related how meeting the Potters had touched upon and changed their lives.

Once the exceptionally long talk ended, it was time for lunch and Wang offered them some traditional Chinese food that they all enjoyed. It was around this time that the girls grew very worried about Harry and asked the ancient master about their friend.

"You all have given me a detailed account of Harry's character, but as detailed as it was, it was also highly subjective. I have given him a test of sorts, to see how much of your accounts is also objectively true."

* * *

Returning to the Barrel for the 40th time, Harry was sweating profusely and had surely drunken as much water as he had carried up the stairs. He was no longer breathing as hard as his body had grown accustomed to the strain somewhat, but he knew he would pay for it tomorrow.

Upon emptying his buckets into the large wooden container, Harry frowned. In the barrel was quite a bit less water then there should have been. He looked at the barrel for a moment and saw that part of the water had seeped through the boards that made it up. Then the wood had absorbed the water and the swelling of the boards had sealed the leaks.

Sighing once more, the determined boy picked up the buckets and staff.

* * *

The friends on Wang's porch had been chatting amicably with the old master and before they knew it, Lunch time was long gone and Supper rolled around. Harry's friends asked about Harry the entire afternoon and Wang always told them that the boy would be fine.

Supper came and went and the sun started to set. Slowly Wang doubted himself, as he had expected Harry to arrive much sooner and was surprised by the lads resilience.

After the sun had completely set, Wang announced the end of the test.

"Did Harry pass?" Hermione and Luna asked in unison.

"He did far more than that." The tiny old man answered cryptically.

* * *

Upon arriving at the stairs, Wang looked at the barrel and was surprised to see it almost full. It shouldn't have been possible to fill it past half. It seemed that even the old magic of the barrel was impressed by the boy, or maybe it had started to wear off?

The old master looked up just in time, to see Harry appear from the stairs. He had taken of his shirt and had a good amount of sunburn on his torso. Sweat made his hair and skin glossy and slick. He was barefoot and the staff had left a red welt on his shoulders. He was breathing heavy and had trouble standing up straight. Harry poured the buckets into the barrel and was about to start down the stairs again.

"Stop. That's enough." Wang needed a moment to recover from the shock of seeing the barrel now almost full.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the ancient man.

"Harry this was a test, I forbade you to use magic so you wouldn't accidentally reveal this barrels secret. You were never supposed to fill it up, it shouldn't have been possible to do so. This was supposed to test your patience and resilience, to measure how long it would take you to give up. No one has ever been able to fill it past the halfway point. I can see the amount of will and concentration you are able to summon. Please follow me."

They made their way back to the hut. The group gasped as they saw the state Harry was in. He had left them early in the morning a mere boy, now before them stood a battered and bruised young man.

Wang immediately received criticism and was asked why Harry was in the state he was. The old man held up his hands to stop the barrage of questions.

"Harry has done something I would have deemed unlikely this morning. He almost succeeded in completing an impossible task. For this and for the will he demonstrated he has earned my respect not something a lot of people can claim."

The old wizard disappeared into his hut for a second and returned with a couple of small bottles, a cup of tea and a big plate of food. Harry swallowed the potions he was handed and then attacked the food, which he demolished in record time. Finally he sat there, sipping his tea and only then did he start to talk.

"How was I able to fill the barrel if it was enchanted to not fill past a certain point? If I had thought it couldn't be done, I would have stopped and returned here after a while. But since it appeared to fill, I kept on going."

Wang thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "Who knows for sure, but maybe you should take this as a lesson for the future. Never think of anything as impossible until you have tried with all your might."

The master made a short pause and took a sip of his tea.

"Now to the real reason we were meeting today. I have spoken to your friends and they have told me about you. This in conjunction with the test has told me all that I need to know. Would you like to continue your lessons with me and learn the art of kung fu from me?"

Upon seeing the boy nod, Wang continued.

"Very well, then I will come to Britain with you and we will train in the mornings. Once you go back to school, I'll come there as well. As far as I have gathered, Hogwarts has quite extensive grounds," The old master finished with a smile.

* * *

The group quietly made their way back to the campsite that night and the friends immediately, after a quick set of good nights, went to bed. Harry had been exempted from the morning lessons with Wang for the next two days, so he could recover from the test.

All of them had their own thoughts and questions flowing through their head until they fell asleep.

* * *

The following two days passed quickly. Harry took the time to properly rest for once and usually was playing games with the girls and the adults or read some fiction for a change.

On the third day he resumed his training with Wang in the morning, who first taught him some Qigong. It reminded Harry of the warm up exercises his teacher had him do in the dojo back home. John also joined in on these exercises.

The ancient master then showed the forms to his student, who was tasked to repeated them to ingrain them into his muscle memory. While Harry repeated his forms, John was taught meditation by Wang. The elder Potter, who had been in a body (most of the time) for the past six years, missed the ability of his soul to transcend the different planes of existence.

In the afternoon they were still looking for the Xiaos and the birds had grown used to them and were now frequently seen.

* * *

The next one and a half weeks were spent in much the same way. Luna even befriended one of the Xiaos, who landed on her shoulder and refused to budge whenever they visited.

Some days they were able to take off and simply enjoy their time in the woods. The children even found a small lake close by that they could swim in.

Harry's martial arts training progressed incredibly fast, even though he hurt quite a bit for the first five days. John with his rational mind and calm thinking was a natural at meditation. Wang was very pleased with both of them. At times the old master even joined them in their afternoon activities and immensely enjoyed himself while doing so.

Before long their stay in China came to an end and they had to return to Britain.

* * *

A day before they would depart, the group stood at the mountain road where John's and Xeno's researcher friend Chao had dropped them of. They had packed all of their things early in the morning and Wang had told them they would meet later that day in downtown Beijing.

Chao came just like he had promised and took them back to the city. He and John chatted in Chinese while they were driving back to Beijing. The researcher dropped them of at a small inn located in downtown. Here the group would spend their last night and tomorrow they would take a portkey back to London and Wang would come with them.

John had offered him one of their guest rooms until he had set up something in Britain for himself and the old master had gladly accepted.

* * *

After meeting up with Wang, the friends went into the magical district of Beijing and had a good old fashioned shopping spree. John and Xeno used the time to stock up on potions supplies that were expensive or hard to get back home.

Hermione, Emma and Luna had fallen in love with a particular style of Chinese dress which they all bought some variations of.

Wang had Harry pick up some traditional Martial Arts clothes – after dragging the lad from the closest book store. Upon being asked if the silk clothing would help him learn kung fu any better, the old master laughed.

"Probably not. But they are quite comfy and flow about you like nothing else."

Shrugging Harry picked out a few sets of clothes and returned to browsing the book store. Wang joined John, who was looking at a few magical items that used Chinese characters instead of the runes he was accustomed to.

"Your son sure spends a lot of time in book stores."

John chuckled. "So much that I had to enforce a day by day spending limit. Else he would buy the entire store on his first visit. Due to his remarkable memory, he only has to read a book once to remember its contents and he reads incredibly fast."

Nodding Wang returned to Harry's side and gave him suggestions for the books he should get.

* * *

They ended their trip to the magical district with a meal from one of the vendors there. It was a bit different to what Wang had served them and the ancient wizard informed them that the magical chefs used potent herbs for healing and some ingredients that were used for energy replenishing potions in their meals. This turned most of the foods that they sold into low level healing potions, though not quite enough to actually heal upon consumption like a real potion. It was however pronounced enough to keep the consumers who ate them regularly in good health.

After their meal, the sun was already starting to set, the group decided to retire to their rooms in the inn.

* * *

The next morning broke bright and early for the friends. With their luggage shrunken down and in their pockets, they made their way back into the magical district and to the authorized portkey point.

John quickly took care of the formalities. The official then simply handed them a slender wooden hoop and gave a quick explanation on how to use it.

They each took a hold on the hoop and John used his wand to tap it. Before they knew it they were once again at the portkey point in London, where they had started their adventure three weeks before.

The hoop was returned to a wizard from the ministry and they all left the building.

* * *

Instead of opting for the train again, John quickly teleported them to the Potter home. The Grangers then said there goodbyes and packed their newly unshrunken luggage in the car they had parked in the Potter's driveway. After they had left, John showed Wang his room for the next few days.

After they all had unpacked and settled in again, John went to write a letter to Ragnok to inform the Goblin leader that they had returned.

* * *

Up in Scotland, in a castle overlooking a black lake, a small device whirred and then gave a distinct 'ting'. The old wizard in the room looked up and smiled.

'He's back in range again. Small wonder, it's his birthday in two days. Good that I heard of the party being planned at the Longbottom Manor. Luckily there are still a few trustworthy sources out there.'

Still smiling he returned to his scheming. 'Now for this new DADA Professor I intend to hire...'

* * *

The reply from the goblin leader arrived the next morning, just after Harry had finished his morning routine with Wang. John was already reading the letter as the martial artist entered with the lad in tow.

"Next Monday, we have to go to Gringotts. Ragnok sends his wishes, but the summons is from the inheritance department."

Harry only now remembered what the Flamels had told him.

"It's probably about the wills of Nicholas and Perenelle."

He suddenly flinched under his fathers stare.

"I forgot, the Flamels told me during my first visit, that they left me everything. None of their decedents were still alive, so they changed their will just after we had met. He didn't want everything to fall into Dumbledore's hands."

Nodding John placed the letter in a drawer and prepared breakfast for all of them. The Lovegoods soon joined them drawn by the smell of food and coffee.

* * *

The time leading to the party went by quickly. Hermione stayed at home for the duration, but Luna and Harry visited her in the afternoon.

On the evening of the party, John teleported them all into the entrance hall of Longbottom Manor.

They were greeted by Alice, Augusta and even Frank, who still used his cane to get around. His general health had improved much, but his left leg still was very stiff and held little feeling. Harry was recipient of many birthday wishes and halfway through they were joined by Neville, Hannah and Susan, as well as the Abbots and Madam Bones.

Harry had received the wishes of his extended family during the day, most of them in the morning, but they all insisted that he would receive his gifts at the party with the rest of them.

John quickly asked Alice if they could have one more guest join them and the Longbottoms enthusiastically agreed. He disappeared only to reappear a second later with Wang in tow. The tiny ancient man was introduced and the others immediately made him welcome.

* * *

Quickyl now the other guests arrived to the party and they all were greeted by the Longbottoms as hosts and Harry as the guest of honor. They were shown to the Manors lush ballroom that had been fitted with a buffet and a bar. Hired waiters served the guests and no wish was uttered that wasn't met.

Everything went by smoothly, until the Hogwarts professors arrived. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and … Dumbledore.

John quickly bent to Alice's ear. "You invited Dumbledore!?" He whispered.

Through a gritted smile, she answered him. "No, we did not! What should we do about him, we can't throw him out, without losing at least a bit of face in the magical community. Not something we should do right at this moment."

Thinking quickly, John replied. "Then leave him be for now, we just make sure he has no opportunity to corner Harry."

Catching a look from his son, he shook his head slightly and told him telepathically to play along for now.

The professors with Dumbledore looked decidedly uncomfortable to be accompanied by the Headmaster. His name was not on the guest list nor on the plan for the seating arrangements and changes had to be made for him to sit with his fellow professors, who looked less than pleased by the development.

* * *

When everybody was seated, Frank Longbottom gave a short speech on the renewed friendship between their houses. He more than hinted at the Potters involvement in their cure, something he had talked to John about beforehand. He would never openly state that John had cured them, but he would surely strengthen the myth that was growing around the remaining Potters.

He then handed the floor over to Harry, who thanked everyone for coming and opened the buffet.

* * *

It was after everyone had eaten, that Dumbledore started the first attempt to speak to the Potter heir, but try as he might, he just never got around to cornering the boy.

At first there was the boy's guardian, who cornered him and then proceeded to bombard him with requests for the boy's school life, and that of his two female friends. As he was still trying to keep track of the boy, he agreed to all of it, not even really hearing half of them, just to be rid of the man.

On his second try the Lovegood man did the exact same thing. His requests were even more outlandish if at all possible, but still Dumbledore waved most of them through trying to get past him.

On the third try he was accosted by the Granger parents, who demanded to know why their daughter had been in so much danger in her first year. This time he was so busy making up empty excuses that he lost the boy in the crowd, until he reemerged at the gift table. It was time to unwrap the gifts.

* * *

The professors, sans Dumbledore who hadn't brought a gift, gave him books, but their reasoning was not quite clear. McGongall gave him the mandatory DADA textbooks, attached to them was the note 'Since you need them anyways'. Harry recognized them from the book list he had received the previous morning.

Flitwick however gave him a big ancient looking tome on dueling rules and practices, strategies and spells, while Sprout gave him what equated to a self defense manual for young adults. This gave Harry the distinct impression that none of the other teachers thought their new colleague competent in his field.

Wang went next and had probably the biggest surprise so far. It was an ancient bamboo book. The old master told him that it had been passed on by teachers to students for centuries.

Harry felt extremely humbled and thanked the ancient man profusely, before he had to unwrap the next gift.

Most of the other guests gave Harry gift certificates. Amongst them were Flourish and Blott's, Madam Malkins, Fortescue's ice cream parlour and even a shop in Knockturn alley that Harry had never heard of. Then finally it was time for the gifts from Harry's extended family.

* * *

The Longbottoms went first and Neville handed a small wrapped parcel to Harry. Inside lay a small book. Upon opening it, Harry had choke back a gasp. Magical pictures had been glued to the pages of the book and some information had been written under each. He recognized Alice's handwriting, and what must have been Franks, underneath pictures of himself as a baby.

More pictures, some of himself with his parents or his parents and their friends followed and soon they turned to the present, presenting pictures of Harry with his friends and the handwriting under the pictures was now Neville's familiar scrawl.

Moved by the gesture, Harry thanked his friends and asked John to immediately move it home so it was safe.

The Lovegoods quickly followed the Longbottoms and Luna handed him a simple envelope. Inside was a note that said 'Look at me Harry!'

"This is the gift Daddy and I got you."

Luna winked at him and he immediately understood, they would give him dummy gifts while under the scrutiny of all the other guests and hand him his real gifts once they had returned home.

After Harry had thanked the Lovegoods, it was now the Grangers turn to step forward. They also handed him an envelope and upon opening it, Harry found a note as well. As this was Hermione however it explained the whole situation for him and even included a cue for him to act happy at his present.

He once again thanked them for their gift and John grinned while he handed him a third envelope. Tearing it open, Harry already knew what would be inside for him.

* * *

John, who had kept an eye on Dumbledore, saw the man ready to accost Harry once more. However, before he could voice any opinion, he was accosted by Amelia Bones, who simply bombarded him with accusations on the dangers he set on the children that past year.

Smiling the elder Potter returned to his son's fake thanks for his 'gift'. Amelia seldom needed to be clued in, that made John like her even more.

Twenty minutes later, the procedure was repeated as midnight neared and Neville received his congratulations and gifts.

* * *

The party continued on until the early morning, albeit Dumbledore had left soon after midnight. He had to accept that he wouldn't get to talk to Harry, not outside of Hogwarts anyways. Soon the term would start and then he would be able to have a chat with the younger Potter.

The Grangers, Lovegoods and Potters returned to the Potter House, just as first light appeared on the horizon.

They all quickly made their way into their beds, even the Grangers didn't return to their home that night,instead they used the guest rooms John had set aside for them.

* * *

Harry woke and just lay their quietly for a moment, contemplating the past night. A quiet knock on the door had him look up.

"Come in."

John entered the room quietly, in his hand was a small box. "Good morning Harry, I have a couple of gifts for you. I thought they would best be left until we were alone. I doubt that our friends would react too strongly about this, but I couldn't be sure about all the people at the party yesterday."

He handed the box to Harry, who opened it and found a small amulet and a book titled 'Ritualistic Magic in Battle' by Abraham Potter.

"Ritualistic magic? Abraham Potter?" Harry raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Abraham was one of your great-great-grand uncles I think. A great mage, who would have given Dumbledore a run for his money and he never touched a wand in his time. His approach is a bit dark, darker than most would like, but I thought you might have a use for it. I just didn't want to be berated by all of the light side fanatics at the party."

John grinned a bit, then grew serious again.

"I also got these for you from the family vault." He handed Harry a big and heavy envelope.

Opening it, out fell two small books, each inscribed with a different name.

The boy looked at him. "My parents?"

John sighed. "Their diaries. Nobody has read these and I think the time is right for them."

He made a short pause.

"If you want company while you read through them, you know where you can find me. Or maybe you'd like Hermione or Luna to read through them with you, I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Harry considered this. "I'll keep it in mind, but I think I'll try it on my own first."

Smiling, John gave his son a pat on the shoulder.

"If you're up for it, breakfast is going to be ready in a couple of minutes. I also think a visit of Gringotts would be in order."

Nodding Harry got up and went to take a shower.

* * *

Harry stood inside the shower and had just finished lathering up, as he heard the door open. He stuck his head past the shower curtains and spied Luna making her way to the loo.

"Morning Harry." She smiled at him in her out-of-it-in-the-mornings way.

Harry only managed to make a small noise in the back of his throat, which sounded like someone had stepped on a very quiet mouse. His gaze followed Luna, until her panties hit the floor, then he spun so quickly, that he had to grab the bar the shower head was mounted on to stop him from falling. He listened until he heard Luna leave, his gaze transfixed on a particularly uninteresting tile, while his blood rushed to his face.

Once she was gone from the bathroom, Harry breathed a sight of relief, which was followed by a quick shout and a fumble to turn off the shower, as the water had turned ice cold. He was usually grumpy about John installing this truly 'magical' feature to stop him from showering too long, especially since they didn't need to pay for water or electricity. But today this cold blast of water, cleared his head quickly of what had transpired a second ago.

Harry quickly finished his shower, determined to have a chat with John once they were alone today.

* * *

Upon leaving the bathroom, Harry ran into Luna again. This time she looked a lot less disheveled and held out a small gift wrapped parcel for him to take. Harry mumbled a thank you, while his head went beet red.

"This is the one Daddy and I made for you."

Smiling, Harry tore through the wrapping paper and revealed a small pendant on a necklace made from some kind of silky string. He looked a bit closer at the strange looking jewelry and recognized Xiao feathers and eggshells and one of the energy stones, John and Xeno were so found of. The string was probably made from demiguise hair and then bathed in something he couldn't identify.

"It might give you an edge in a fight, but it will drain the stone. It takes a few hours for it to recharge," Xeno cautioned him, as he joined them in the hallway.

Harry put on the necklace and thanked the Lovegoods, albeit the hug Luna received was a lot more tentative than usual.

"What does it do?" He asked Xeno.

Laughing, he shrugged. "Who knows, we have recorded over 55 different effects its had, from short term invisibility to shield spells." Seeing the worried expression of the lad, he quickly added. "Don't worry they were all positive effects."

* * *

At the bottom of the stairs, the Grangers were already waiting on Harry. Xeno and Luna gave their greetings and then went to the kitchen to have breakfast, while Harry stayed behind. Dan carried a small wooden case. Hermione touched her fathers arm and he did the talking.

"Harry, this is not a gift I would normally give to someone as young as you. I talked to Hermione and she told me that it is not uncommon for a young wizard to carry a blade, even nowadays."

He opened the box and on black velvet rested a Fairbairne and Sykes combat knife in pristine condition.

"It was my Grandfathers and he used it to help rid this world from one megalomaniac assh..."

He received an elbow to the side from Hermione.

"Anyway, I want you to have this. Use it to rid the world of people like that, all the worlds."

Harry was rendered speechless for a moment.

"This is a family heirloom. Dan, I can't accept it. It is a part of your family."

Dan dropped the case in the lad's hands.

"Then...son… use it to keep the family safe."

This brought a few tears to both men's eyes. It teared up everybody that stood close enough to actually hear the quiet exchange.

After thanking the Grangers profusely, they made their way to join the others in the kitchen.

* * *

Breakfast was a silent affair, with most too tired to talk and Harry too embarrassed to even look at Luna. He almost laughed with elation as one of Death's messengers knocked on the window. John opened the window and the raven dropped a black letter in Harry's lap, then landed on the table and performed a very atonal variant of the song 'Happy Birthday', before disappearing in a wisp of smoke.

Harry didn't know whether to shudder or to laugh and finally settled on neither. Opening the letter, he started to read only to shout for his father after a second.

"Dad, quick, read this."

After getting the gray paper thrust into his hands, John quickly read the lines written in Deaths neat but unimaginative script.

'Dear Harry,

I congratulate you on living for one more year, although if somebody asks I've never done such a thing.

I have a birthday present for you, albeit an accidental one. Riddle used the first resurrection stone, which had been placed on the Gaunt family ring, as a horcrux. His soul piece has kept the stone structurally sound for a while after my blessing had been revoked.

Now however the Stone has disintegrated and this sizeable piece of soul has found its way to me, a bit reluctant maybe. This means that you and your party have to search for one less horcrux, so I hope this is an appropriate gift for a birthday.

Until we meet again,

Death'

Checking the horcrux map, John punched the air in a rare display of unchecked elation, passing the letter to Xeno. Luna's father copied Harry's dad only seconds later.

"These are good news indeed, I certainly don't look forward to finding these things."

"Me neither and we're now one step closer to ending him."

* * *

In a rather remote part of a not so remote forest, the snake that was currently possessed by the shadow of a soul that was Voldemort, gave a shudder. He had felt like someone had danced on his future grave.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, as long as he was still in his quasi immortal state, he decided he needed to contact one of his more trusted followers. Well one that wasn't locked up in Askaban right now.

* * *

After Breakfast, Hermione had borrowed Harry's new DADA textbooks, so she could read while her parents got ready for the drive home.

Harry and Luna sat in the living room with her, as she suddenly slammed the book down on the table and gave it a nasty look. Upon receiving quizzical looks from her friends, she justified her actions.

"These books are a load of garbage, I checked the others as well. They are novels, written to entertain. There is not one spell being taught in them and I'm sure half of the ones vaguely described in them don't even exist. I don't know who this teacher is going to be, but they must be a downright fan of this Lockhart who wrote those books."

Luna looked right through Hermione as she gave her answer.

"Maybe they want the books to give us an overview of the situations that one can find him or herself in. Though I agree it's overkill to assign all of these books as mandatory texts, it's almost like someone is trying to push the sales."

Harry scratched his head.

"I'll start reading them tonight, maybe I'll find some kind of sense in them."

Both girls nodded just as Dan and Emma entered the room, so it was time for the friends to say goodbye for the day.

"Let's set a date soon, so we can get our supplies together," Hermione told Harry and Luna as she got into the car. They both promised that they would never go without her and the Grangers drove off.

* * *

A bit later that day, it was almost evening by now, Harry dressed in his robes to go to Diagon alley. Xeno and Luna had decided that they would stay behind and Wang had opted to make tea for the three of them, while Harry and John went about their business.

* * *

Upon entering, all the guards in Gringotts rapped their knuckles twice on their dragonhide shields. Harry remembered this to be the Goblin way to congratulate a fellow warrior. Thinking quickly of the appropriate response, Harry let out a quick 'Huurgh!' which began in the back of his throat and ended on the tip of his tongue. It meant something to the effect 'Have a drink, toast to me, I'm going to pay.', this was met with even more rapping and grunts. Lots of happy sounds from the happy guards.

* * *

They were led to Ragnok's office and shown in. The goblin that let them in told them to take a seat and that it would take a moment for the leader to arrive.

Once the Director of Grongotts and de facto leader of the Goblin Nation entered, John and Harry were shocked to see him lug around a massive tankard. Laughing he raised it to Harry.

"To our benefactor."

Harry grew pale, while John laughed.

"What have I done."

Laughing harder, Ragnok sat down behind his desk.

"Simple, you've managed what the wizards have tried to do for years. Gringotts will remain closed tomorrow, while everybody still celebrates you. Your invitation to the nation was more than generous."

Harry paled even further and Ragnok decided to take some pity on him.

"Don't worry, we'll charge you with the goblin prices for everything and the fortune in your vaults would hardly take a dent even if we didn't."

Sighing a breath of relief, Harry calmed down and relaxed in the plush seat he currently occupied.

Ragnok grew a bit more serious again and looked at the humans that had changed the way he viewed an entire species.

"Very well, first things first." Taking a rather big object, wrapped in dragon hide from underneath his desk, he went to Harry and held it out to him. "Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry thanked him and took the heavy gift. Ragnok continued while he unwrapped the package.

"I had it made for you, you are a goblin warrior now, after all. Not one of our Warriors was ever without, and neither will you."

Underneath the layers of finest dragon hide, a massive ax came out. Harry gave it a few test swings and yes, it was heavy, but also very well balanced.

"It has a special sticking charm worked into it and since I'm aware you can't take it every with you, you may summon it to you at any point in time."

Harry placed the ax on his back and it stuck to it perfectly, then he laid it on the coffee table in the sitting corner of Ragnok's office. Standing in front of Ragnok's desk, Harry wanted to ask how he would summon it, as it materialized in his hand.

"Certain magics might interfere with your ability to call it to you, so be aware of that. With this out of the way, your training is about to start, but as we're still debating over with courses you will join, we'll send you a letter with your timetable once it's all decided."

Thanking the Goblin leader once again, Harry asked about the Flamels.

"Ah yes, as far as I know you have an appointment with the inheritance department come next Monday, but since you seem to know about it already, yes they left you their fortune. The reading of their will, will have to wait till Monday."

* * *

John, Ragnok and Harry spent some time chatting for a while after this. They informed the Director of the demise of one further Horcrux, which had Ragnok refill his tankard.

After an amiable chat, Harry and John left the leader of the Goblin nation to join the celebrations again and went out into the still, warm nighttime air. John invited Harry to an ice cream and as they sat at Florean's Parlor in silence, with Harry enjoying his treat and John sipping a cup of coffee, the elder Potter asked what his son had on his mind.

With a bright red face, Harry fumbled for words. "It's nothing I think… we had the talk before… you know about sex and stuff..." The boy trailed of at the and a little. "… but I feel like these things are becoming relevant now, at least for me. I…"

Heavily embarrassed, Harry told him what had happened in the bathroom that morning.

"Luna didn't seem to think any of it, she wasn't shy not even a bit embarrassed. She just …"

"Peed right in front of you." John supplied as he found his son in a seldom struggle for words.

Harry nodded.

"Well Luna is a good bit younger than both you and Hermione, and she grew up quite a bit differently as well. Maybe the concept of being embarrassed by nudity isn't as developed in her, if it is at all. I don't think it is problem as long as she is going starkers at home with her family, so no one can take advantage of that."

Harry nodded again.

"But I'm somewhat embarrassed by her doing things like that. Especially since I thought I had locked that door. Well…"

"Maybe you didn't, maybe she unlocked it while still being somewhat asleep. If you are absolutely not comfortable with her walking in on you like that and you don't think that you could get used to it, talk to her. Luna is a bright girl, unusually so, I think if you explain the situation to her, she will respect your wishes."

Harry smiled and blushed at the same time.

"That's okay, but I don't know if I want her to stop."

This made John laugh hard, so hard that the other patrons of the Parlor looked indignantly at him.

"As curious as you are, Harry, I would be surprised if you truly would want her to."

John then got really serious, as serious as Harry had ever seen him.

"I know were probably a year or three away from that, depending how fast either of you three develops. And I know that I can trust you on that. Just don't take advantage of the girls trust in you and, no matter what happens between either of you, make sure you don't hurt them and their feelings."

Harry looked his father straight in the eye. "I won't, I would never do that."

Closing his eyes for a moment, John smiled at his son. "I know you wouldn't, but I had to say it. Besides think about what Dan and Xeno would do to you if you did."

Swallowing heavily Harry threw John a look that made him laugh.

"How do you feel about Luna, or Hermione for that matter?"

His son scratched his chin and John chuckled, as this gesture made his son look much older.

"Well I like both of them a lot, they're great friends and they're both really pretty."

Realizing what he had just said, he blushed horribly again.

"Please don't tell them I said that."

Smiling, John sighed. "I don't know, I think they would appreciate a compliment like that. Anyhow it's about time we head home, you got lessons with Wang tomorrow morning."

After John had paid, they both teleported home, finding the house was eerily quiet.

"Well seems like everyone has gone to bed already. We better turn in as well."

The father son pair went up the stairs and to their respective bedrooms.

* * *

Harry held his promise to Hermione and read the first one and a half DADA textbooks and found himself agreeing with his friend they had no educational value. He hoped that the other books would hold up better than that.

His eyes strayed toward the diaries of his parents, but he opted to read them in the morning. Turning of his lights, he somewhat hoped that Luna would surprise him in the shower the next morning as well. Or maybe Hermione would stumble in, next time she slept over.

With a smile on his face and a bright blush, he drifted of to sleep.

* * *

A/N2: Next chapter will include the diaries, some goblin training and probably the start of the second year at Hogwarts.


	16. KOL: Let's amble down Knockturn Alley!

A/N: Eight Months! And what crazy eight months it's been. I'm getting married in a week and a half! Wedding preparations are running in high gear right now. Church and festivities are planned and booked. I hope everything will calm down a bit after, so I'll have more free time to write.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

* * *

MoD2: Harry Potter, Keeper of Life

Chapter 4: Let's amble down Knockturn Alley!

Harry woke in his bed and listened for a moment. Hearing nothing, he decided to get started on his parents diaries.

On a whim, he decided on his father's and flipped open the cover to a note written in pencil.

 _Harry, my son,_

 _I hope I'm reading this alongside you and we can share a few laughs and tears at some of the things written in this. If I can't, then your mom should be sitting beside you. If that is also not true, then I hope that your Godparents take good care of you and you will forgive us for not being there for you._

 _Sirius will probably have you up to no good and Alice should have made a respectable young man out of you. We have specifically asked that you're not to go to Lily's sister, as they are on bad terms ever since your mother has gone to Hogwarts and that would probably extend to you._

 _Son, these are horrible times, there is a full out war happening. There is a megalomaniac, who calls himself Voldemort, targeting people like your mother, who has been born to muggles. This is absolute bigotry and can not stand, but many of the old wizarding families freely bought into it._

 _I dearly hope that this war is over for good and that the right side has won. I wish nothing but a quiet and peaceful life for you my son._

 _Harry know that we love you._

 _Your father,_

 _James Potter._

* * *

It was half an hour later that Harry put his father's notebook down and knew he needed to have a talk with both his parents and John soon.

Sighing he picked up his mother's diary and begun reading. On the cover page, similar to his father, his mother had left him a note in pencil.

 _My dear Harry, my baby boy,_

 _You're laying in your crib while I'm writing this. I hope we will still be around when you read these lines and if not, then I'm sorry we have failed you._

 _I hope that you grew up with your godparents, but who knows with the war brewing. If they were unable to take care of you, I just hope that you were raised by loving parents._

 _I will try to protect you as good as I can and I've detailed a small ritual later in this book, that I will attempt in order to protect you further. I hope it will never activate and that we'll never need the protection it offers._

 _I love you, Harry._

 _Your mom, Lily._

Harry noticed that a few tear stains had hit the page at multiple points. Sighing he started to read further into the book.

* * *

An hour later, Harry made his way down to breakfast. He noticed that all the other occupants of the Potter house were already up and ready. Wang stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the young Potter.

Harry quickly excused himself, telling the old master that he had to speak with John for a moment before their training.

Entering the kitchen, John sat at the table with Xeno. Both men had finished eating and were quietly discussing something over a cup of coffee. Luna had gone to the living room and was watching cartoons on the TV.

"Good morning Harry, I thought you and Wang had already started with your exercises." Then John noticed his sons expression. "Is something wrong Harry?"

"Dad, I think we both have to talk with my parents soon."

"How would we both talk to them? I can't visit Deaths realm at my own volition."

Harry lowered his voice and, a bit unwilling, admitted. "I can summon them here. It's not pleasant for the dead, but I can call forth a 'ghost' of sorts."

Xeno gasped a bit at that. His wife, Harry could call her to the mortal world.

As if reading his mind, Harry looked at the hopeful man. He lowered his voice even more, not wanting Luna to hear.

"I can call her, but I don't think it will help you. It will just reignite your grief and you will loose her all over again. Believe me, I'd rather not use this ability, but in this case I seem to have no choice."

A few tears escaped Xeno's eyes, but he nodded in understanding.

John smiled at Harry. "We'll make this work, for now go to your training session."

They both watched the lad leave with Wang, then quickly discussed a few more points and John got up to make a phone call.

* * *

When Harry came down from his shower, he found that both Xeno and Luna had left and Wang was nowhere to be seen. John came from the living room.

"They have all left. The Lovegoods are at the Granger house for the afternoon. Wang left for Diagon Alley. I think it's time we have a chat with your parents."

Nodding, Harry went to sit inside the living room. Closing his eyes, he concentrated for a moment and soft glow started in the middle of the room. With in a few moments, James and Lily Potter stood there, their body's looking like they were made of dense smoke.

The ghostly Potters just stood there quietly for a moment, their unease at being in the realm of the living apparent on their faces.

"Okay, what did you call us here for?" James asked his son.

"I have read your journals. About going into hiding and about the ritual. Also I read about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, as well as Remus Lupin."

John's eye twitched as he got an idea about what this was all about.

"Why haven't I seen any of them so far. I mean Pettigrew I get, he was supposed to be your secret keeper, while Sirius was a decoy. So I guess they have all died, since you got killed by Voldemort in the end?"

Uncomfortable silence settled, until John finally broke it.

"What do you mean Pettigrew was the secret keeper?"

"Well," Lily began. "we thought that we would take Peter Pettigrew, one of our friends as secret keeper to our cottage in Godric's Hollow. We would let slip that Sirius had been chosen, so that Peter would be left alone. We figured that they would rather suspect Remus if Sirius got killed and the fidelius was still in effect."

James continued. "What nobody could have suspected, was that Peter would turn to Voldemort at the earliest possibility. We should have thought of that, he was such a weak character. So he bought his life at our expense."

"Sirius tried to bring him in, he was an Auror back then. Peter blew up the street, leaving twelve dead and his own severed finger behind. They are animagi and Peter, in his form as rat, escaped down the sewers." Lily continued. "He was later adopted by a wizarding family as pet. That disgusting piece of human waste."

James placed his hand on Lily's shoulder. "We would have told you sooner, but last time we saw you, we were just so glad to see you… we didn't think of it at the time. Death also has a weird message policy, being very strict on what can escape his realm in written form."

"Wait!" John interrupted. "You mean to tell me, that Sirius Black is innocent? Pettigrew is still at large and hides with a wizarding family? Whom? Also I can't remember hearing of Lupin's death, where has he been all those years?"

Clearing her throat, quite a feat for a ghost-like appearance, Lily answered him.

"We can't see which family he is with, Death didn't allow us this information. Remus is a werewolf and has a chronically low self esteem because of it. Also his condition would have made it difficult for him to take care of Harry. He also can't hold onto any job, because of the wolf, nobody will hire him."

James stepped in. "He's also too noble for his own good. Never accepted money from any of us. Not even what we left him in the will. He has no permanent home and thinks Harry is better off without him. Dumbledore didn't help any, with him telling Remus that Harry was fine, every instant that he asked about you." James nodded to Harry.

"Who else knew that Sirius Black was innocent. Lupin?" Harry asked.

"No, Remus knew nothing. We left him out, but warned him that they might be after him as well. No one knew, but Peter and Sirius," James told them.

John and Harry filed the information away for later, but the younger of the two had one more question for his mother.

"Mom, you detail the protection ritual you performed, which activated on your self sacrifice, where did you find that?"

"I found a similar ritual in a small book of James' library at home. One of his ancestors wrote it and it originally was supposed to be an unbreakable ward. The book detailed that the ritual was flawed and that it would require a willing sacrifice if it were to work. So he stopped working on it and used it as a foundation for a battle shield he could set up in advance." Lily sighed.

"I then took both concepts and recombined them to the ritual I used on you. I could set it up in advance and my sacrifice would activate it. I had no idea how much protection it would actually offer, all I knew was that I would die to protect you. So I had nothing to loose and everything to gain."

Harry could only whisper his reply, his voice thick with emotion.

"Thank you mommy."

* * *

They continued chatting, but only for a few minutes. James and Lily asked to be sent back to death's realm. They felt strange in the realm of the living, it was like they were in pain, just not quite.

The Potter parents left, but not without begging John to help Sirius and bring Peter to justice. After they had left, the living Potters remained deep in thought.

They spent some of the afternoon making plans to rectify the situation. Once their friends started to come back, they had a finished plan that would unfold in the first week of school.

* * *

Harry and John, once again, found themselves in Gringotts. Today the Flamel Will would be read and tomorrow Harry would have his first training session with the Goblins. After waiting for a few moments in Cutclaw's, the Flamel account manager's, office, the Goblin entered with Dumbledore in tow.

Cutclaw mentioned for the ancient wizard to sit and took a sealed envelope from his desk. He opened the will and started to read in a disinterested and monotonous tone.

"I, Nicholas Flamel, of sound mind and body, hereby declare my last Will and Testament. My wife and I agree on the following points and the Flamel estate is to be divided as follows."

The Goblin cleared his throat. "To Albus Dumbledore, I leave nothing, take it, you deserve it." Dumbledore sputtered in his seat, but Cutclaw continued unimpressed. "To Harry Potter, we leave everything. We might not haveknown each other well in the short time that was left to us, but I'm sure by now you understand our reasoning."

The account manager turned to Dumbledore. "Thank you for your attendance, it will no longer be required."

"But my attendance was specifically asked for, surely Nicholas wouldn't just have you ask me here for laughs."

Cutclaw had to chuckle a bit at the distraught wizard. "It seems he did just that. Now leave please, so we can continue."

Knowing that words wouldn't help the situation, Dumbledore left, his mind reeling on what levers could be pulled to rectify this problem.

After the door closed, Cutclaw's demeanor changed drastically. He addressed them amiably and showed them a ledger with the figures for the Flamel's fortune. With all the gold the Alchemist couple had possessed, it was about equal to the Potter's.

"The vault contains items apart from the fortune, but I will let you figure that out for yourself. It is a secure vault, so no key will be necessary. Showing this ring to any Goblin will be enough to be taken to the vault."

The Flamel ring joined the Potter ring on Harry's hand. It showed a circle with alchemical symbols as crest. Harry opted to speak to the Flamel's before visiting the vault, so he would know what to pick up.

"They also had a house in France. This is the key." The Goblin handed Harry a bearded key that looked to be at least three centuries old. "Together with the ring you should be able to gain access."

"They had no name they could bequeath you with and were no nobility, so you don't inherit any titles."

Cutclaw asked them if they had any questions left and upon answering no, the rest of the formalities were quickly taken care of.

* * *

The following day, bright and early, Harry stepped through the main entrance of Gringotts. A rather tall Goblin spotted him almost instantly.

"I am Sharpedge of clan Bladesmith." He introduced himself. "Follow me."

Harry followed the Goblin instructor deeper and deeper into the tunnels below the bank. The temperature steadily increased until they arrived at a huge set of double doors.

"This is the forge." Sharpedge pushed open the doors and a wave of heat rolled over Harry, causing him to gasp out loud. This was definitely the hottest room he had ever been in.

"You okay, boy?" The gruff voice of his instructor asked.

"I'm going to be fine, I just have to get used to the heat."

"Right, there are the younglings you will be learning with." Sharpedge pointed at the young Goblins that entered the room.

Harry greeted them and most were nice to him. The instructor stood in front of the blazing fire and gave them a quick rundown of the forge and it's parts. He then had them work on a simple piece of steel, showing them the form it was supposed to have after hammering.

After the class had been dismissed, Sharpedge handed a parchment to a profusely sweating Harry.

"You've done well for your first time. These are Goblin runes, try to memorize the first two for our next lesson in the forge. Your first lesson in the circle will be on Thursday. I will meet you in the main hall at the same time as today."

The Goblin returned him to the long corridor which Harry knew would lead him back to the entrance hall. Harry stepped into the cool marble hallway and breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to leave through the main gate as he heard an angry voice from one of the teller's desks in the hall.

Careful to avoid detection, Harry hid behind a pillar and listened in on the conversation.

"What do you mean destroyed? It was a family heirloom that Gringotts had no business to interact with!"

"My apologies Mr. Malfoy, but you know the policy of Gringotts concerning items of dark magic. Your vaults were chosen for a routine inspection, the item was discovered and, in accordance with our guidelines, disposed of. Your vault was fined for the transgression."

Harry spied around the pillar and saw Draco Malfoy, a taller blonde man (his father surely) and a house elf standing before a Goblin teller.

"Fined! You took most of my liquid assets! I now have to liquefy assets that would have gathered more interest in time."

"That is none of Gringotts business. The guidelines were known to you, the bank handled the entire matter well within legal constraints. Now would you like to discuss another matter, if not I would ask you to free up the line."

The Malfoy's left Gringotts in a huff. As they walked past Harry's hiding spot, the boy saw the elder Malfoy kick their house elf every other step he took. He would tell John of this. Silently Harry went to the front steps of the bank and teleported home.

* * *

Sharpedge met Harry upon his arrival in the bank's entrance hall. He led the boy to a different part of the underground caverns. A circular portion of the stone floor was raised, kind of like a muggle grappling ring.

He shared this class with the same younglings that had spent the previous lesson with him at the forge.

"Raise your hand if you have a blade on you." The gruff voice of there instructor called out.

Most of the Goblins raised their hand, as did Harry to their surprise.

"Good, once we have made progress at the forge, I don't want any of you unarmed. You are of the Nation and you will be warriors, you are not to be caught unprepared."

For the rest of the lesson, Sharpedge showed them the Goblin way of unarmed combat. It was designed to tide you over, if you had to face an armed opponent with out a weapon of your own. Due to his training, Harry impressed his instructor with the ease he picked the movements up.

After their lesson, Sharpedge informed Harry that, with Gringotts school being back in session the coming week, that their lessons would then start in the evenings, which suited Harry just fine as he would be able to continue them once Hogwarts started up again.

Lastly he asked Harry if he had already memorized the runes for their next lesson, to which Harry told him that he had already memorized the whole sheet. Impressed, Sharpedge handed him a piece of parchment and a charcoal pen. As Harry had finished writing down all of the runes he had learned over the past day, his instructor could only shake his head in disbelief.

"Here." He handed a book to the human boy. "I trust you speak Goblin?"

" **I do.** " Harry answered him in the language.

"With this you will learn how to write and read it as well. It's going to be necessary anyway and as you seem to learn fast..." The gruff Goblin shrugged with a grin.

* * *

"You lying piece of…" Harry had to fight the urge to throw the last of his DADA books across the room.

Hermione and Luna, who sat across form him, looked questioningly at the enraged boy.

"You were completely right Hermione, this is purely fictional crap. Don't get me wrong, somebody did these things, but surely not this Lockhart person. He would have to be at, at least, two places at the same time to accomplish all of it. What really puzzles me, is that somebody had to be doing the things he claims to have done, yet nobody calls him out on his bullshiting."

Hermione completely agreed with him. "I don't know what they are getting at with this either. They also teach no spells or tactics or anything else of value. They're not even entertaining."

Luna shrugged at her brunette friend "I've read a bit into each of them, but found them dull. So I stopped."

John entered with the Grangers and Xeno in tow. "Let's head to Diagon Alley for your supplies. Neville and his parents along with the Bones and the Abbotts will meet us there."

John had procured a portkey for their shopping trip, so their sudden appearance as a group would cause less questions.

* * *

They had finished their shopping, their purchases safely transported home by John, and had saved the bookstore for last. They got the required school texts, thought neither of the girls seemed pleased that they had to buy the Lockhart books as well.

The clerk told them, with a glow in his eyes, that the Author had been there the previous week and had done a book signing. No one of their group was disappointed about missing that.

John told Harry and the girls to pick up books they wanted to read as well, and he silently took care of the financial part of the transaction.

They left Flourish and Blott's, and stepped out into the alley. Dan and Emma wanted to visit Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor, after John had told them that the flavors were magical and didn't rely on sugars for sweetness.

Harry had brought one of his gift certificates for a shop in Knockturn Alley he wanted to visit. 'The Macabre Cabinet of Madam Meridian' sounded at least intriguing. Since the Grangers didn't like the look of the narrow path between houses, Xeno had offered to accompany them for ice cream. John would go with the kids to find the obscure shop. And later, they would meet up at the parlor.

* * *

They had to follow Knockturn Alley up to a brick wall, that was oddly reminiscent of the wall behind the 'Leaky Cauldron'. This made Harry wonder if there were other entrances to the magical district of London.

To their right they found the strange looking small shop they were looking for. It looked surprisingly new and renovated in comparison to the other shops in the side alley.

Upon entering, a small bell over their heads announced potential customers.

"One moment please, I'll be with you shortly." A somewhat old sounding voice called form the back room.

Slowly an ancient looking woman made her way to the front and came to a halt behind the well used counter.

"I am Madam Meridian."

Luna looked the old Lady up and down. Then she gave a small laugh. "No."

They elder woman looked surprised at the child that had such conviction in her voice.

"Hmm, very well. You seem to know my sister then."

Luna was pensive. "You're getting closer, but your not quite there yet."

Before their eyes, the old woman transformed into a young woman of about 20 years.

"Fine. My gran is Madam Meridian. I'm Linda. How'd you know I was lying."

John laughed. "Our Luna can always tell if someone is telling the truth."

"I wouldn't put up with the masquerade, but gran thinks the customers expect a certain experience when they come in here." Her eyes contorted skyward.

"What kind of shop is this then?" Harry asked.

"Well, my family has specialized in buying and selling magical artifacts. There are all kinds of spelled and bewitched items in this room. Don't worry though, the dangerous stuff is locked up."

John nodded and then looked at the kids. "Then you should take a look around." The kids all grinned and then started to browse around the store.

Linda stood beside John. "They're yours?" She asked, nodding to the kids.

Giving a little laugh, the elder Potter answered her. "I hope I don't look that old. No, Harry is my adopted son and my nephew. My brother and his wife passed away during the war. Hermione and Luna are friends of his."

Linda inched a bit closer. "So you're not married?"

"No, Harry and I live together with Luna and her Dad, he is a widower. Right now we also have a friend staying at the house."

They watched the children looking around the room, until Linda broke the silence.

"They're all going to Hogwarts?"

John absentmindedly nodded as he watched Harry in one of those seldom moments, when he was just a boy.

"Yeah, did you go there as well?"

"No, my gran home tutored me. My mom lives abroad in the states and my dad died in the war as well." Linda said while eyeing the young handsome man leaning on the counter.

She continued. "Well, not going to Hogwarts made my chances to find a husband pretty slim, most magical folk in Britain find their partner that way."

Looking at her, John answered. "Well you don't have to limit yourself to only wizards, there are plenty of muggle men that would be happy to catch a young beautiful lady, just like you."

Biting her lip, the younger witch replied. "But a handsome wizard like you, surely has a girlfriend, or two, tucked away somewhere."

This elicited a laugh from the 'handsome wizard'. "Just like you, I didn't have much time or chance to meet with others. I was just old enough to take care of myself when Harry entered my life. Since then I've been a full time dad, so to speak."

Once again a comfortable silence fell on them and Linda felt a tug on her sleeve. Luna motioned her to move closer and whispered into her ear.

Linda, now red faced, scooted close to John, who had missed the altercation and spoke into his ear. "So, would you like to go out today?"

John got completely baffled by that, not knowing how to properly respond.

"Well Linda, I feel flattered at your interest, but aren't you a bit young compared to me?"

The younger girl pouted. "I'm 22, what are you? 28? 29?"

"I'm..." John involuntary paused. He knew that he was going on well over 300 years, but John Potter was only supposed to be- "...27, I'm 27. Sorry, I mistook you for younger."

'Fuck, how do I get out of this.' The elder Potter started to sweat.

"Well, then I'll take that as a compliment, I guess. So how about we go for a coffee? I get relieved in an hour and surely Harry could stay with one of his friends for an hour or two. Maybe Luna's dad or your friend could watch them both for a while?"

The sweat on his brow turned cold, and not least because he imagined Xeno taking care of the kids all on his own. "Ehh… Okay?"

* * *

When they left the store a couple of minutes later, Harry had bought a book that seemed to be written in parseltounge and John still looked gobsmacked.

They walked the path up to Diagon Alley and as they stepped through the gateway into the crowded street, Luna pulled on John's sleeve.

"What's got you so stressed out?"

"I...Well I seemingly got a date in 45 minutes."

Harry frowned. "What? With whom?"

"The girl from the store."

Hermione laughed. "Well good on you."

* * *

After dropping the kids off at the ice cream parlor, John went to a small florist just outside of Diagon alley.

The kids had a great time and before heading back to the Potter home.

It was later that day when John returned to the house. Proclaiming that he would meet the girl again on the weekend, which was met with much cheering.

* * *

Looking around, Harry quickly found the items that Nicholas had suggested he bring to his own potions room. It had been a week since the Will had been read and they had taken the day to look around the small house in France.

He had of course quickly found the library and just knew that Hermione and Luna were going to love the books. They had shrunken down all but the most magical of tomes and packed the entirety into a charmed trunk.

Nicholas' personal lab and Perenelle's Greenhouse were inspected and they opted to take Neville and Alice with them on their next visit, as they would know how to move the plants to Britain without them taking too much damage.

The lab equipment, which had been used by the alchemists to render magical animals down into potions ingredients, was packed into a separate compartment of their trunk.

Harry had opted to learn how to render the ingredients himself. At least some of them. Nicholas had quite the stash held under stasis charms or in some cases, frozen in a muggle freezer. It turned out that the more magical ingredients simply defied the power of the stasis charm, refusing to be put under it. So the clever alchemist had used muggle tech to preserve them at least for a while.

* * *

Harry spent the rest of his summer break in much the same way. He would train with the Goblins, train with Wang and train with the Flamels. He experimented with the ritualistic magic of his great grand uncle Abraham.

The magic that the old mage was able to command however, remained elusive to Harry for the moment. He had quickly found out that the amulet, with it's detailed and mystic carvings, took the place of a focus. One you didn't take in your hand and wave around. Though try as he might, he couldn't get the hang of it.

He continued reading Death's book and the contents got darker and darker in tone. He read necromantic spells and battle curses that seemed way too cruel to ever use in an actual fight. Still he filed them away and even tried casting a few on inanimate objects.

Sharpedge was impressed with his progress learning the Goblin runes. They were still forging steel bars into basic shapes and Harry was praised for his skill. Weapons training also went well, at least after Harry had gotten somewhat used to the weight of Goblin axes.

Soon it was time for them to pack their trunks and head back to Hogwarts for their second year.

* * *

They took a portkey to the station, one that John hadn't bothered to get a license for. They had learned that the acting members of old houses had been granted this special right in the last session of the Wizengamot. Luckily they had already agreed that Alice Longbottom could stand in for the Potters as a proxy, since they had been out of country at the time.

The Lovegoods, Grangers and Potters were automatically redirected to the portkey point of Platform 9 and ¾, and arrived with time to spare. Once more, John gave them a bit of gold to buy sweets, Xeno had another big portion of pudding and the Grangers gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste.

"Mom!" Hermione rolled her eyes at her mother. Emma Granger just shrugged with a smirk on her face.

"You'll all thank me in a couple of years."

The Longbottoms, who had Susan with them as Madam Bones had an important appointment, arrived with the Abbotts following soon after.

Together the six friends found an empty compartment, stashed their luggage and went to say their goodbyes to their families.

John took Harry off to the side for a moment. "Have an eye on the horcrux detector for me, okay? Also, I will see you soon, as I'll have to go to Hogwarts twice a week for the next half year to get you for lessons at Gringotts."

He ruffled Harry's hair.

"Wang told me he would be up in Hogsmead by tomorrow evening, so you'll resume your lessons on Thursday."

They hugged one last time and the trains whistle reminded everyone to board the train.

* * *

The friends were well on their way, chatting and playing games, when a knock on the door interrupted them. Upon opening, there stood a small redhead in the doorway. She was one of the new first years and her hair color made it probable that she was a Weasley.

"H-Hey, mmh, I-I just wanted to, well eh, t-talk to Luna for a moment?"

Luna stood and went out into the corridor with her.

Their friend was gone for ten minutes, when she reentered the compartment alone. Luna looked uncharacteristically pensive.

"Hey Luna what's up?" Hermione asked her.

"That was Ginevra Weasley, Ginny as she is called. She came to me to apologize about her abandoning me after my mothers death. Ginny, she wants to be friends with me again..."

The blonde trailed off at the end, the pensive expression never leaving her face.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Neville asked her.

"I'm not sure. She wasn't lying when she said she wanted to be my friend again but it didn't feel like the entire truth either. She didn't really mean the apology, but I didn't expect her to. Now what to do?"

Harry shrugged. "Depends on you, if you want to be friends again, have her join us. We'll make her welcome, but it depends on you."

Luna knew that gaining her childhood friend back couldn't be that easy, but it was a powerful thought.

"I'll try, she... well maybe it'll work out."

* * *

The rest of the train ride was uneventful and soon they arrived at Hogsmeade station. Harry held his eyes open for a particular set of identical redheads and finally spotted them with their brother Ron.

The group of friends caught up with the twins and Harry intended to make good on his word. They would have their prank war, just like they had agreed to on their train ride last Christmas.

"Hey Weasleys!"

The twins opened their mouths to answer Harry, but Ronald beat them to it.

"What do you want Potter?"

Said Potter then promptly ignored him. "So? Your still on?"

The twins quickly nodded. "Yes. When do we officially start..."

"...the war? We don't want to catch you all unawares."

"Hmmm. How about after the feast, so from tomorrow morning 'til the end of the year?"

The ginger brothers quickly agreed and while walking off, the small group could hear the whining of Ronald Weasley.

"Do you have a bet with Potter? What war were you talking about? What..."

His voice was lost as they climbed one of the thestral drawn carriages that brought them to the school.

* * *

The sorting had Ginny join the Gryffindor table, where she chose a seat opposite Harry and the girls, right next to Neville. They all enjoyed the feast and while Harry didn't notice, both Luna and Hermoine noticed the redhead staring at Harry all evening.

Dumbledore introduced the new DADA teacher, which turned out to be the incompetent ponce that had written their 'textbooks'. This lead to groaning from Harry, Hermione and Luna, while everybody else was busy cheering. Small wonder he had basically all of his books on the list of mandatory texts. Even if he flopped as teacher, which he undoubtedly would, he would stay afloat on what he had earned with the students buying his books.

With the festivities over, the tired friends retired to their beds and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

John stepped off the ferry and onto the small Island that housed Askaban prison. It had been two days since the children had gone to Hogwarts and even Wang had left for Hogsmeade, where he'd rented an apartment for his prolonged stay. The house already felt empty again.

At the security desk, the warden asked John the reason for his visit.

"I need to speak to Sirius Black."

"And you would be?"

"John Potter."

The guard did a double take.

* * *

John trotted along the cold and damp corridor, right behind a dementor that was tasked with taking him to Black's cell. The vile creature didn't affect him nearly as much as he would have expected after regaining his memories. It seemed that the dementor tried to keep a bit of distance from him and seemingly felt uncomfortable around him.

* * *

The dog that was Sirius Black, looked up from the spot he had curled up in. He heard the soft footfall of a guard coming closer and he felt the dementors retreat.

With a mental sigh, he transformed back into a human and wondered what they wanted from him after all these years. Would they finally bring him to stand trial for the crime they thought he committed?

The steps came to a stop in front of his cell and the small window in his door was unlocked.

"You may talk to him for 10 minutes." He heard someone say, probably the guard.

"Thank you." The voice was cultivated and calm.

John Potter entered the cell and Sirius took a moment to recognize him.

The guard closed the door and left them alone.

Ten minutes later, John Potter left the prison.

* * *

It was later that night, that the guards were jolted by a sound most hadn't heard since their first day of training. A prisoner had left the wards. The deep horn rang out again.

The two veteran guards and the trainee that were on duty that night quickly called in reinforcements. A head count confirmed that one Sirius Black was missing. Straws were drawn to determine who had to be the unlucky one to report to the aurors and the minister.


End file.
